Trump rages against Nato allies during coronavirus briefing

President attacks European Union and media during White House update on pandemic

Coronavirus: Ten most affected countries around the world (AFP via Getty Images)

Donald Trump railed against "abuse" from Nato and complained about the US spending more on its military than European allies during a briefing on the state of the coronavirus pandemic in the US.

He said: "They're all playing games against us. They're been playing games against us for years."

The president claimed that "some of the people that took the biggest advantage of us are our allies" as he raged against the European Union "not taking" US medical equipment.

His daily White House briefings on the administration's response to Covid-19 often stray from the health crisis to the president's gripes, much like his campaign rallies, as he swats at members of the press in front of him and complains about "unfair" treatment as he touts his platform.

On Thursday, as the US death toll climbs closer to 1,000, the president not only ripped Nato but also doubled down on attacks against the media, telling one reporter that "some people in your profession" want to see the economy fail to prevent his re-election.

He called out "fake news" and said that if it wasn't for him and his administration, "you wouldn't even have a country left."

Last year, the president said he would punish Nato members with trade blocks if he has determined those countries aren't "fulfilling their commitments" to military defence spending.

The president also failed to confirm that the US would defend those countries if they're attacked.

During the 2019 Nato summit, he said that the US will "deal with" countries "from a trade standpoint" or "in a different way" if they're "delinquent" in their defence spending commitments.

Mr Trump added that "it's not fair" that Nato allies help defend countries that haven't committed at least 2 per cent of their spending on defence.

"If something happens, we're supposed to protect them? It's not really fair", he said. "If they don't want to, I'll have to do something with respect to trade. With trade, I have all the cards."