Donald Trump has said he’s unsure whether the United States “should be spending anything” on NATO, saying that the U.S. is protecting its allies but they are “not protecting us.”
The new American president again reiterated his demand—which he had outlined earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—that the military alliance’s members spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense.
“I'm not sure we should be spending anything, but we should certainly be helping them,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“We're protecting them. They're not protecting us.”
NATO’s current guidelines say that member states’ defense budgets should amount to 2% of GDP—a goal that is matched by most, but not all, countries. Eight states fall short, according to the bloc’s estimates for 2024.
Lifting that target to 5% could be a tough ask. No NATO member currently spends that much on defense, not even the United States.
At 4.12%, Poland currently directs the greatest share of its GDP toward defense, followed by Estonia at 3.43% and the U.S. at 3.38%.
However, the Reuters news agency said that Washington’s contribution comes to nearly 16% of the alliance’s yearly expenditure of around $3.5 billion—the joint-largest portion, alongside Germany’s.
It adds that the U.S. also indirectly boosts NATO through investment in aspects such as military forces, which fall outside the alliance’s annual budget.
While America’s NATO allies—composed of Canada, Turkey and over two dozen European states—are unlikely to meet Trump’s demand, it is likely a higher target of around 3% GDP spending on defense will be set, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the military alliance’s Secretary General said on Thursday that Europe will foot the bill if Washington commits to keep arming Ukraine in its full-scale war with Russia.
Speaking at the conference in Davos, Mark Rutte said that European countries need to invest more in defense, produce more arms and bear more of the financial burden for defending Ukraine.
“On Ukraine, we need the U.S. also to stay involved,” Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, said.
“If this new Trump administration is willing to keep on supplying Ukraine from its defense industrial base, the bill will be paid by the Europeans. I'm absolutely convinced of this; we have to be willing to do that.”
He added: “It is a worldwide conflict, yes, but still Ukraine is closer to Europe than to the U.S.”
Rutte later met the new American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who reinforced Washington’s commitment to the alliance while also discussing “the importance of having capable defense allies and real burden sharing,” the U.S. State Department said, reported by Reuters.
“I'm not sure we should be spending anything, but we should certainly be helping them,” Trump told reporters on Thursday.
“We're protecting them. They're not protecting us.”
NATO’s current guidelines say that member states’ defense budgets should amount to 2% of GDP—a goal that is matched by most, but not all, countries. Eight states fall short, according to the bloc’s estimates for 2024.
Lifting that target to 5% could be a tough ask. No NATO member currently spends that much on defense, not even the United States.
At 4.12%, Poland currently directs the greatest share of its GDP toward defense, followed by Estonia at 3.43% and the U.S. at 3.38%.
However, the Reuters news agency said that Washington’s contribution comes to nearly 16% of the alliance’s yearly expenditure of around $3.5 billion—the joint-largest portion, alongside Germany’s.
It adds that the U.S. also indirectly boosts NATO through investment in aspects such as military forces, which fall outside the alliance’s annual budget.
While America’s NATO allies—composed of Canada, Turkey and over two dozen European states—are unlikely to meet Trump’s demand, it is likely a higher target of around 3% GDP spending on defense will be set, Reuters reported.
‘Europe could foot bill for Ukraine spending’
Meanwhile, the military alliance’s Secretary General said on Thursday that Europe will foot the bill if Washington commits to keep arming Ukraine in its full-scale war with Russia.
Speaking at the conference in Davos, Mark Rutte said that European countries need to invest more in defense, produce more arms and bear more of the financial burden for defending Ukraine.
“On Ukraine, we need the U.S. also to stay involved,” Rutte, the former prime minister of the Netherlands, said.
“If this new Trump administration is willing to keep on supplying Ukraine from its defense industrial base, the bill will be paid by the Europeans. I'm absolutely convinced of this; we have to be willing to do that.”
He added: “It is a worldwide conflict, yes, but still Ukraine is closer to Europe than to the U.S.”
Rutte later met the new American secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who reinforced Washington’s commitment to the alliance while also discussing “the importance of having capable defense allies and real burden sharing,” the U.S. State Department said, reported by Reuters.
