[importantbrian]

They increased their defense spending because of Russia invading Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. It didn't have anything to do with US bullying. The biden administration certainly wasn't going around bullying Europe between 2021 and 2024.

[nomel]

Trumps talks of NATO problems go back to his last term. Foreign leaders showed fear of reduced US cooperation then [1], some directly attributing increased spending to that [2]. It was very widely reported back then, with similar fervor.

[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-...

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/world/europe/donald-trump...