Carla Norrlöf

TORONTO – As NATO marks its 75th anniversary, the idea that it is free-riding on the United States remains a live issue. While former U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized America’s transatlantic allies for spending too little on defense, it is worth remembering that presidents going back to Dwight D. Eisenhower (including John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama) also pressured the Europeans to share more of the burden. After Lyndon B. Johnson’s secretary of defense, Ro