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Associated Press
- June 5, 2025 21:01
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Most NATO allies support US President Donald Trump's demand to invest 5 percent of gross domestic product in defense needs and are ready to increase spending even more, the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance, Mark Rutte, said on Thursday.
“There is broad support,” Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of allied defense ministers at his Brussels office. “We are very close,” he said, adding that he was fully confident “that it will be achieved” by the next NATO summit in three weeks.
European allies and Canada have already increased investments in defense forces, as well as in weapons and ammunition, since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
At the same time, some countries have opposed US demands to invest 5 percent of GDP in defense – 3.5 percent for basic military spending and 1.5 percent for roads, bridges, airports and seaports to deploy armies more quickly.
Constant setbacks to the old goal
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In 2023, as the war in Ukraine entered its second year, NATO leaders agreed to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on national defense budgets. So far, 22 of 32 member states have done so, but others have fallen behind.
Trump and NATO allies now appear ready to back the new goal at a summit in The Hague on June 24-25. Trump insists that U.S. allies should spend at least 5 percent so that America can prioritize other parts of the world, primarily in the Indo-Pacific and on its own borders.
He has raised suspicions among other NATO countries that the United States might not protect them if they spend less. At the same time, he has also imposed tariffs on allies, often citing security concerns in the United States.
The new target involves a 1.5 percent increase over the current 2 percent budget target. This means that all 32 countries would invest the same percentage.
The US has long spent more than any other ally in terms of money. But according to the latest NATO data, the US will spend 2024 percent of GDP on defence in 3.19, down from 3.68 percent a decade earlier. It is the only country to have reduced its defence spending since 2014.
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While the two figures are expected to together touch 5 percent, this significantly changes the basis on which NATO calculates defense spending. The seven-year timeframe to achieve this goal is also shorter than previous standards. The 7 percent target was set back in 2.
American leadership in NATO
According to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Trump has saved NATO.
According to him, European allies have thanked Trump for reviving the Alliance.
"We hear you. We all need greater capabilities. We need to spend more. Thank you, President Trump, for reviving this alliance. It was an alliance that was sleepwalking," Hegseth told reporters, citing European partners.
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The higher spending is seen as even more necessary as the Trump administration is expected to withdraw 84 US troops from Europe. Asked about the Pentagon's plans, Hegseth did not offer much explanation. "Americans can't be everywhere all the time, nor should they, so there are reasons why we have troops in certain places," he said.
During the meeting, Hegseth and his counterparts also approved targets for the purchase of weapons and military equipment to strengthen the defense of Europe, the Arctic and the North Atlantic. The countries now aim to buy air defense systems, long-range missiles, artillery, ammunition and drones. Each country has a classified plan and the details are not known.
