Fox News claims entire US defense budget goes to NATO minutes before Trump lies and says US funds 90 percent of NATO
Fox News on Thursday falsely suggested that the entire U.S. defense budget is paid to NATO.
In an on-screen graphic titled “U.S. Contributions To NATO in 2018,” Fox News claimed that $706.1 billion was paid to the military alliance.
In fact, $706.1 billion represents the entire defense budget, which is the largest in U.S. history.
Minutes after Fox News made the erroneous claim, President Donald Trump held a news conference where he wrongly asserted that the U.S. has been funding “probably 90 percent of the costs of NATO.”
According to NPR, the U.S. actually pays about 22 percent of the $2.8 billion in annual NATO expenses.
.@FoxNews graphic shows entire U.S. defense budget, $706B, is designated as "Contributions to NATO in 2018"
Fact Check: this is U.S. total defense spending, not @NATO spending pic.twitter.com/nqsQyPtP2U
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) July 12, 2018