US EditionGermany backs Trump’s push for 5% NATO defense spending target
- In May 2025, German and NATO officials supported U.S. President Trump's call to raise NATO defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2032 during meetings in Belgium and Turkey ahead of the June summit in the Netherlands.
- This initiative follows longstanding U.S. Criticism of underfunded allies and proposals from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and others seeking a compromise between the current 2% benchmark and the new 5% target.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged to strengthen Germany’s military and acknowledged the significant financial impact, while NATO members debated spending allocations including military infrastructure and cybersecurity.
- No NATO member currently meets the 5% target, and some officials consider achieving it within seven years challenging, but proponents stress rising Russian threats and alliance cohesion demands, with Wadephul stating, 'The alliance is only as strong as its weakest link.'
- The NATO summit scheduled for June 24-25 in The Hague is anticipated to solidify a new defense spending agreement, encouraging European and Canadian members to raise their military budgets in support of collective security.
208 Articles
208 Articles
Merz' Minister in Charge of Armaments
Is that tactic or over zeal? German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has caused amazement in the Berlin government district with a marked announcement of armaments on a foreign date. Now nobody wants to have known about it ... Germany wants to spend five percent of its gross domestic product for defense in the future. Rumms! That would currently be more than 200 billion euros. An enormous sum that blows up everything that has happened. The annou…
5% Target on a Substantial Increase in NATO's Military and Security Expenditure
NATO countries now appear on the path to an "ambitious" increase in their military and security spending, demanded with insistence by Donald Trump and to which Berlin and Paris have joined.
Surprise defense spending pledge splits German coalition
BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul’s unexpected support for a dramatic increase in defense spending to 5 percent of GDP is dividing the country’s ruling coalition. The target represents a steep increase from the 2 percent of GDP that Germany now spends and is in line with demands from U.S. President Donald Trump. NATO’s current target, set in 2014, is for members to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense, but that is likely to …
A surplus of defence riches, but lack of skill and experience
Analysis - The minister of defence, space and spy issues has at least $9 billion of new money to spend, but is also grappling with a defence force that is demonstrably not ready to spend it, writes Phil Pennington.
Germany Backs NATO’s 5% Defense Spending Goal as Italy, Spain Lag
Germany’s government, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, confirmed its support for NATO’s proposed 5% GDP defense spending target by 2032, a decision announced by Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul at a NATO meeting in Antalya, Turkey, on May 15, 2025. This move responds to U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand for higher contributions. Meanwhile, Italy and Spain […]
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