US EditionWhite House Insists All European Countries Must Spend 5% on Defense
SPAIN, JUN 20 – Spain opposes NATO's 5% GDP defense spending goal, citing it as counterproductive and prefers a 3.5% military and 1.5% infrastructure investment plan, while only four NATO countries meet the target.
- President Donald Trump called on NATO members to allocate 5% of their GDP towards defense funding ahead of the June 24-25 summit in The Hague.
- This demand follows the longstanding 2% target set in 2014, with Trump pushing for a higher threshold because the U.S. has financed much of European defense without sufficient return.
- Only four NATO countries—including Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—currently meet the 5% spending target, while some allies claim a combined 3.5% plus 1.5% that lacks clear definition.
- Trump expressed that while the United States need not increase its defense spending beyond the current 3.4% of GDP, other NATO members ought to meet the 5% target. He criticized Spain for contributing relatively little and resisting this expenditure goal.
- The summit will likely address these disputes, with Spain seeking an exemption and other countries aiming for gradual increases, implying continued negotiation on realistic defense spending commitments.
15 Articles
15 Articles
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Trump exempts America from his own NATO defense demand: 'Don’t think we should'
President Donald Trump's demand that NATO countries increase their defense spending to 5% of their GDP appears to be a rule for other countries and not the United States.The comments come at a time when Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO allies next week in The Hague. Spain's prime minister recently said his country won't abide by the spending increase and asked for an exemption. “I don’t think we should, but I think they should,” he said duri…
US President Donald Trump said yesterday that the requirement that NATO member countries spend 5% of their GDP on defence should not apply to the United States, saying Washington has already spent enough in the past...
Washington is confident that they will achieve a major victory in The Hague with an allied commitment of five percent of GDP for defense.
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