White House Denies Claim That Trump Handed Angela Merkel A Fake $374B Invoice For NATO Defense

Business Insider reports:



The White House denied reports on Sunday that President Trump gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel a $374 billion invoice for money her country owed the US for NATO defense. The Times of London published a story citing anonymous German officials who claimed Trump gave Merkel the bill during their meeting in Washington last week.

“No, this is not true,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said when Business Insider reached out to the White House for comment. The Times reported that one German minister said the alleged exchange was “outrageous” and that “the concept behind putting out such demands is to intimidate the other side, but the chancellor took it calmly and will not respond to such provocations.”