President Donald Trump is focused on one key objective at next week’s NATO leaders’ summit—and European leaders are eager to meet it. However, that doesn’t guarantee Trump will be satisfied.
The 32-member transatlantic military alliance plans to commit to a significant increase in defense spending, raising it to 5 percent of gross domestic product, 3.5 percent dedicated to direct military expenditures, and 1.5 percent toward broader defense-related initiatives. This landmark pledge could reshape transatlantic security and represents a major win for Trump, who has consistently pushed Europe to shoulder a greater share of its own defense costs, Politico reported.
“There is no way they would be going to 5 percent without Trump,” said one administration official, who was granted anonymity to share the president’s views. “So he sees this as a major win, and it is.”
Trump plans to deliver a speech on Wednesday at the summit’s conclusion, highlighting the new spending commitment and his pivotal role in securing it. However, his victory is unlikely to stop him from pushing NATO members to increase their contributions further and accelerate the timeline—a demand that may prove challenging for some allies.
Spain, the NATO member with the lowest defense spending, is seeking an exemption from the new pledge, and there is widespread disagreement within the alliance over the deadline for meeting these spending targets.
“They’re thinking of a timeline that is, frankly, a decade,” Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO under President Barack Obama, told the outlet. “Trump is probably thinking of a timeline that is by the end of this decade, if not sooner. That’s where I think [the summit] can blow up.”
While NATO allies disagree on the specifics of the security spending pledge, there is widespread consensus on the importance of keeping President Trump satisfied and presenting a united front at The Hague. With Russia’s war in Ukraine ongoing and U.S. foreign policy increasingly focused on Asia and the Middle East, maintaining alliance cohesion is critical.
To that end, summit organizers have condensed the event from the usual two days to just 24 hours, centering the agenda almost exclusively on Trump’s negotiated pledge, Politico noted.
“He has to get credit for the 5 percent — that’s why we’re having the summit,” said one European defense official, granted anonymity to speak candidly about private government-level conversations. “Everything else is being streamlined to minimize risk.”
