WASHINGTON — President Trump — after yesterday’s upbeat family meeting with Pope Francis — is expected to affirm the U.S.’s commitment to NATO at a ceremony in Brussels today, while reveling in a move by member countries to boost support for the alliance in response to Trump’s campaign trail complaints about countries not paying their fair share.
Today, NATO leaders are set to approve a measure requiring member countries to give detailed reports on plans to boost NATO defense spending. The move follows the lead of the Trump administration, whose budget submitted earlier this week included a 40-percent increase in military spending in Europe.
Trump’s budget has little chance of passing Congress in its present form, but still won praise from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, who called it “a commitment to our collective defense from the United States, not only in words but also deeds.”
Meanwhile, a Congressional Budget Office report dealt a blow to Republican efforts to pass its American Health Care Act, releasing a report that predicted the House-passed version would lower health-care premiums and cut the federal deficit by $119 billion in the long term, but would also lead to 23 million fewer insured by 2018 and cause skyrocketing premiums for some, including poor elderly enrollees.
The analysis by the nonpartisan organization stated that 14 million fewer people will be enrolled in Medicaid in nine years under the House bill, and that low- income seniors would see premium increases of as much as 800 percent.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price pushed back against the CBO report.
“The CBO was wrong when it analyzed Obamacare’s effect on cost and coverage, and they are wrong again,” Price said in a statement last night. “In reality, Americans are paying more for fewer health care choices because of Obamacare, and that’s why the Trump Administration is committed to reforming health care.”
The House narrowly passed the bill earlier this month without waiting for the CBO score, an unusual move that came after efforts to pass earlier versions of the bill failed when House Republicans were not able to garner enough support from within the party.
At the Vatican yesterday, Trump and Pope Francis appeared to put aside their differences in a meeting that had the potential for being awkward: The two had feuded publicly over Trump’s immigration policy during the campaign. After their private meeting, Francis handed Trump his book on protecting the environment.
The book holds man largely responsible for climate change.
“I won’t forget what you said,” Trump told the pope. He told the pope it was “a very great honor” to be at the Vatican. At one point, Francis kidded with the first couple. While shaking Melania Trump’s hand, he asked what she fed the president.
“Potizza?” he asked.
“Potizza,” she said, referring to a Slovenian pastry.
Melania Trump, a Catholic, had respectfully wore a veil, as did the president’s daughter Ivanka, though Melania has eschewed a veil in her earlier meeting with Saudi Arabia’s king. Ivanka Trump also met with human trafficking victims and, with her husband Jared Kushner, had a private tour of the Pantheon.
Francis gave Trump a medal featuring an olive branch.
“We can use peace,” Trump said. He gave the pope a custom-bound, first-edition set of Martin Luther King Jr.’s works, an engraved stone from the King Memorial in Washington and a bronze sculpture of a flowering lotus titled “Rising Above.”
“I think you’ll enjoy them. I hope you do,” Trump said.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
