NATO spending target at the summit Trump demands more - from everyone except the USA
Shortly before the NATO summit, Donald Trump is once again causing a stir: he is calling for a massive increase in spending by the member states - but is leaving the USA out of the equation.
21.06.2025, 07:16
21.06.2025, 08:30
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- Donald Trump is calling for a new spending target of five percent of GDP on defense for NATO partners, but is excluding the USA itself.
- The quota is made up of at least 3.5% for military spending and an additional 1.5% for defense-related areas such as infrastructure.
- Trump justifies his stance with the dominant financing of NATO by the USA to date and criticizes countries such as Spain and Canada for their low contributions.
According to US President Donald Trump, the new NATO spending target for military expenditure should apply to all member states - but not to the United States itself.
When asked by a journalist whether, with a view to next week's NATO summit, he expects member states to spend five percent of their economic output in future, Trump said: "I think they should do that. I don't think we should. But I think they should."
Washington had supported Nato long enough and the USA had borne "almost 100 percent of the costs" in many cases, Trump claimed. That is why the NATO countries should adopt the new spending target, he said - and criticized Spain and Canada as examples for their relatively low military spending.
3.5 percent of GDP for defense
Under pressure from Trump, an agreement is to be reached at the summit meeting of the defense alliance in the middle of next week to invest at least 3.5 percent of national GDP in defence in future. A further 1.5 percent is then to be added for defense-related expenditure - for example on infrastructure.
This would bring the total to five percent, which Trump has been calling for some time. The USA already spends almost 3.5 percent of its economic output on defense.
