NATO faces pressure to boost defence spending amid trump demands
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte proposed to alliance member states to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP and allocate an additional 1.5% of GDP to other defence-related expenses, Reuters reported on Friday.
According to the agency, this proposal aims to meet the demand of U.S. President Donald Trump for allies to allocate 5% of GDP to defence. Rutte's proposal would allow Trump to declare success at the NATO summit in June while not obliging European countries and Canada to commit to strict defence spending at the 5% level, Reuters adds. The agency notes that many of these countries find the 5% level politically and economically unfeasible.
NATO spokesperson Allison Hart, when asked officially by Reuters whether Rutte made such a proposal, merely replied that the NATO Secretary General has repeatedly spoken about the need to increase defence spending.
On 23 April the head of NATO published the annual report for 2024, which presented the defence spending of member countries. 22 countries exceeded the 2% GDP threshold set by NATO back in 2014. The spending of allies from Europe and Canada increased by over 19% in 2024. Several countries that have not yet achieved the 2% GDP target have recently committed to intensifying efforts in that direction.
The U.S. ambassador to NATO sets conditions
The German weekly "Der Spiegel" reported on Friday that U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker is threatening that President Donald Trump might not attend the North Atlantic Alliance summit in June in The Hague if member states do not "make a move" regarding financial issues.
Confidential reports from headquarters in Brussels indicate that Whitaker consistently demands an increase in defence spending from two to five percent of GDP. For Germany, this would mean increasing expenditures to €202 billion – noted the editorial.
As "Der Spiegel" writes, the German side recently believed that the American demands were merely a negotiation strategy and not taken seriously. "Currently, Germany trusts Whitaker at his word. Even when he threatens that Trump will not participate in the June summit if other NATO countries do not make a move regarding financial matters," reads the portal of the German weekly.
The defence ministry's budget amounts to €50 billion this year. This sum is supplemented by funds from a special fund created in 2022 for the Bundeswehr totalling €96 billion.
