President Donald Trump's commitment to NATO has been often been questioned. In the past he's branded the alliance "obsolete" and complained frequently about the amount other member countries contribute to it.
"It (NATO) got to be unfair for the United States because the United States pays a disproportionate amount," Trump told reporters as he sat alongside NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday morning.
In the same breath, Trump then took aim at at French President Emmanuel Macron over his comments last month to the Economist that the alliance was facing "brain death."
"It's a nasty statement," said Trump.
"It's a very tough statement to make, when you have a tough situation in France," Trump added.
The President criticized France's "very high unemployment rate" and political strife caused by the yellow vests movement.
You just can't go round making statements like that about NATO -- it's very disrespectful," said Trump. He added that "nobody needs NATO more than France, and frankly the one that benefits the least is the United States."
The US President appeared to take a softer line on NATO during the press conference, praising the alliance's "flexibility" and willingness to change with the times.