NATO Allies Must Boost Defense Expenditure – Trump
Donald Trump has called on NATO allies to boost their defense spending to 5% of their GDP, stating that their current expenditure is insufficient. Read Full Article at RT.com
TroibNews 
US President-elect Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that NATO countries should aim to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. He highlighted during a press conference that European members of the US-led military alliance continue to allocate “only a tiny fraction” of what the United States invests, even though they are more directly impacted by the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
“It should be 5%, not 2%,” Trump emphasized, referencing the spending guideline established by NATO for its members. He mentioned that some nations within the alliance “have taken advantage of us,” echoing claims he made during his first term as president, when he urged NATO allies to boost their defense spending, warning that the US would not guarantee their protection against foreign aggression if they didn't.
Additionally, Trump noted the disparity in defense expenditure among member nations. He asserted that Washington is spending “billions and billions of dollars more … than Europe.” He argued that the combined economies of European NATO members are “of a similar size” to that of the US, asserting that “they can all afford” to ramp up their defense budgets.
“The US-led bloc simply can’t do it at [a 2% threshold],” the president-elect remarked, without elaborating on his reasoning. He cautioned that European NATO members are currently “in a dangerous territory” and claimed that his previous calls for increased defense expenditures among allies had “saved” the alliance.
A NATO report on defense spending published last June revealed that none of the member countries, including the US, currently allocates 5% of their GDP for defense. Poland ranks as the NATO member with the highest relative defense spending, allocating over 4% of its GDP to military expenditures.
In relative terms, the US occupies the third position, spending just under 3.5% of its GDP on defense, following Poland and Estonia. A total of 15 member countries, including Canada, Italy, and France, continue to fall short of NATO's 2% spending target as of June 2024, according to official data.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has also addressed the necessity for members to boost their defense budgets. “It is true that we spend more on defense now than we did a decade ago,” he remarked last month in Brussels, noting that the alliance still spends less than it did during the Cold War, when “Europeans spent far more than 3% of their GDP” on defense.
When asked about what new spending threshold he would find acceptable, Rutte suggested “you have to go to at least 4%,” explaining that “even with 4% you can’t defend yourselves, because then you would not have the latest technologies implemented… in your armies.”
Trump’s latest comments come as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply criticized a proposal from his Economy Minister Robert Habeck to significantly raise the country’s defense budget, stating that the proposed increase would ultimately place an additional burden on German taxpayers.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
“It should be 5%, not 2%,” Trump emphasized, referencing the spending guideline established by NATO for its members. He mentioned that some nations within the alliance “have taken advantage of us,” echoing claims he made during his first term as president, when he urged NATO allies to boost their defense spending, warning that the US would not guarantee their protection against foreign aggression if they didn't.
Additionally, Trump noted the disparity in defense expenditure among member nations. He asserted that Washington is spending “billions and billions of dollars more … than Europe.” He argued that the combined economies of European NATO members are “of a similar size” to that of the US, asserting that “they can all afford” to ramp up their defense budgets.
“The US-led bloc simply can’t do it at [a 2% threshold],” the president-elect remarked, without elaborating on his reasoning. He cautioned that European NATO members are currently “in a dangerous territory” and claimed that his previous calls for increased defense expenditures among allies had “saved” the alliance.
A NATO report on defense spending published last June revealed that none of the member countries, including the US, currently allocates 5% of their GDP for defense. Poland ranks as the NATO member with the highest relative defense spending, allocating over 4% of its GDP to military expenditures.
In relative terms, the US occupies the third position, spending just under 3.5% of its GDP on defense, following Poland and Estonia. A total of 15 member countries, including Canada, Italy, and France, continue to fall short of NATO's 2% spending target as of June 2024, according to official data.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has also addressed the necessity for members to boost their defense budgets. “It is true that we spend more on defense now than we did a decade ago,” he remarked last month in Brussels, noting that the alliance still spends less than it did during the Cold War, when “Europeans spent far more than 3% of their GDP” on defense.
When asked about what new spending threshold he would find acceptable, Rutte suggested “you have to go to at least 4%,” explaining that “even with 4% you can’t defend yourselves, because then you would not have the latest technologies implemented… in your armies.”
Trump’s latest comments come as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply criticized a proposal from his Economy Minister Robert Habeck to significantly raise the country’s defense budget, stating that the proposed increase would ultimately place an additional burden on German taxpayers.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
