“We have fiscal guardrails and we’re not going to change those because of a summit,” the official said.

“We need to work within those constraints.”

But, Mr. Politician, if those constraints (the deficit plan) were created after the 2014 commitment, than it should have taken that commitment into account in the first place and planned for it. That’s the entire definition of…checks notes…“budgeting”.

I’m not a militaristic guy, and I’m certainly no right-winger. But 2% is an agreeable amount to help keep Russia and China in check to some degree. And it IS riding the coat-tails of the other powers.

It is shameful. Everyone in nato knows the requirement. Not meeting it is being mooch friend that drains the whole group