[A]lthough he could not be here today, my thanks go to Speaker Ryan, who’s represented this city for nearly two decades in Congress.  And you know where he is?  He’s with NATO — so he has a good excuse.  And I said, Ron, make sure these countries start paying their bills a little bit more.  They’re way, way behind, Ron.  We have to — or I’m going to talk to you about that, Ron.  

But Paul, you’re over with NATO — get them to pay their bills.  And, Ron, you have to work on that, too….

As we work to restore the American Dream at home, we’re also working to restore America’s standing abroad.  That means strengthening our partnerships and ensuring that our friends and allies pay their fair share, and that very much includes, as I’ve already said in my little statement to Paul, it also includes the NATO companies and countries.  They are really sort of letting us down in that one respect, and we don’t want people taking advantage of the United States.  And that’s not going to happen for very much longer.  I’m going over there very soon and we’re going to have it, and everybody is going to be paying.

Excerpts from remarks by President Trump on Buy American, Hire American Executive Order, Kenosha, Wisconsin, April 18, 2017.

Image: President Donald Trump at CPAC, Feb. 24, 2017 (photo: Michael Vadon)