PALM BEACH, United States: US president-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday pushed NATO members to boost their defence spending to five percent of GDP, underlining his long-standing claims that they are underpaying for US protection.
“They can all afford it, but they should be at five percent not two percent,” the incoming US president told reporters.
Trump has long been skeptical of NATO, the cornerstone of security in Europe since World War II, and last month reiterated a familiar threat to leave the alliance if its members did not step up spending.
“If they’re paying their bills, and if I think they’re treating us fairly, the answer is absolutely I’d stay with NATO,” the incoming US president said in an interview.
The transatlantic alliance’s 32 countries in 2023 set a minimum level for defence spending of two percent of gross domestic product.
Trump, who was an outspoken critic of NATO during his first term in office, is set to return to the White House for a second stint after his inauguration on January 20.
Trump is not the only top official to call for an increase — NATO chief Mark Rutte likewise said last month that “we are going to need a lot more than two percent.”
In his first major speech since taking over as NATO secretary-general, Rutte also warned that European nations were not prepared for the threat of future war with Russia, calling on them to “turbocharge” their defence spending.
During his White House campaign, Trump vowed to cut off aid to Ukraine, force Kyiv into immediate peace talks, and leave NATO allies undefended if they failed to spend enough on defence.
During the last year of Trump’s first presidency in 2020, Pentagon spending hit 3.4 percent. His team reportedly said that the incoming US administration would continue supporting Ukraine.
Trump’s election had led to concern in Europe about the future of the US’s support to Kyiv after Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance criticised the Biden administration for spending billions on military aid to Kyiv during the presidential campaign.
During his first term, Trump had already suggested that NATO members should boost their defence spending to 4 percent of GDP. A NATO report in June showed that a record 23 member countries out of 32 were hitting the alliance’s 2 percent target for defence spending.
In an NBC interview on December 8, Trump said Washington would “absolutely” stay in NATO “if they [allies] pay their bills” — and that he would have no problem leaving if that wasn’t the case.
