President Trump on Thursday said he wants NATO members to spend much more on defense. 

“I’m also going to ask all NATO nations to increase defense spending to 5% of [gross domestic product], which is what it should have been years ago,” he said in remarks given virtually to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He noted that “most nations didn’t pay until I came along” in his first term in office.

“I insisted that they pay, and they did because the United States was really paying the difference at that time and it was unfair to the United States,” he said.

Mr. Trump has made similar comments before, but some defense ministers from Europe have said his request is unrealistic.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.