President Trump is pushing NATO to spend more on defense
Image: CNN
President Trump flew to The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday for the annual summit of leaders from the 32 countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
It marks the first NATO event of his second term, with Trump expected to spend less than 24 hours on the ground before returning back to Washington.
Money talks
Trump admin officials say their goal heading into the summit is to push European leaders to increase their commitments to defense spending and “pay their fair share.”
- To that end, Trump is expected to announce a new NATO agreement at the summit that involves commitments from member nations to boost military spending to 5% of their GDP, up from the 2% goal NATO previously set in 2014.
- The sole exceptions to this deal are Spain, who remains committed to its 2.1% figure—and the US, which spends ~3.5% of GDP on defense.
American exception-alism: Trump has argued the US doesn’t need to meet the same defense spending goals as other NATO nations, since America already has a significant amount of infrastructure after supporting the military alliance for so long while other nations reallocated spending to other areas.
Zoom out: The NATO summit comes as the Israel-Iran ceasefire announced by President Trump on Monday appears to be holding steady, despite accusations that both sides had breached the truce by launching attacks after the deadline for peace.
- Israel’s government lifted nearly all wartime restrictions on civilian movement and economic activity yesterday, saying it had achieved its goals in the war by removing the “dual existential threat” posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic-missile programs.
- Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister said his country will stop its attacks as long as Israel does, but added that a “final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later.”
📊 Flash poll: In general, do you agree with President Trump’s push to have NATO nations spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense?
See a 360° view of what pundits are saying →
Sprinkles from the Left
- Some commentators argue that Trump is right to push European nations to commit more to defense spending and become self-sufficient in that area, rather than rely on the US military via NATO.
- Others contend that the NATO summit is marked by fear that the US could withdraw the tens of thousands of troops and military hardware stationed in Europe, leaving the alliance in a tough spot as it ramps up defense spending.
- “NATO is worth paying for. Trump is right that Europe needs to do more.” –WaPo Editorial Board
- “The Fears Dominating the NATO Summit” –Daniel J. Wakin, NY Times
- “NATO’s call to arms: Time to muscle up ‘at the speed of fear’” –Lee Hockstader, WaPo
Sprinkles from the Right
- Some commentators argue that NATO’s plan to have members spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense is welcome news, and signals that America’s friends in Europe are finally waking up from their long nap since the 1990s and taking national survival seriously.
- Others contend that NATO is currently close to collapsing, as it’s been at several points in history, and while the crisis isn’t completely Trump’s doing, his presidency is key to whether the alliance will rupture, or renew instead.
- “NATO’s New Military Realism” –WSJ Editorial Board
- “NATO Has Dodged Collapse Before. It’s Never Been This Close.” –Hal Brands, American Enterprise Institute
- “Spending is the talk of the NATO summit, but there’s a bigger problem” –Campbell Clark, The Globe and Mail
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