Germany and NATO

When Trump criticized NATO one of the louder voices to complain came from Germany. While the US spends 3.5% of its budget on NATO, Germany spends only one percent. The US provides 1.3 million troops and Germany sends 183,000 with the stipulation that they not be used in combat. The US stations 33,000 troops in Germany to protect them from Russian aggression. Germany also has favorable balance of trade with the US totaling more that $50 billion per year. They are buying natural gas from Russian and could purchase that from the US to offset the imbalance but instead they are financing a new pipeline to Russia. The have import taxes on US goods that far exceeds the import tax that the US charges them.