“They all have the ability to pay, the number should be 5%, not 2%. Europe only accepts a small amount of money compared to us. There is something called the ocean between us and them, right? Why does the US have to spend billions of dollars more than Europe?”, according to AFP, quoting US President-elect Trump at a press conference on January 7.
US President-elect Donald Trump spoke at a press conference on January 7 in Florida (USA)
The increase from 2% to 5% means that each NATO country will have to increase its defense budget by 150% compared to today. Last month, Mr. Trump reiterated his threat to leave the alliance if members did not increase spending.
The US president-elect emphasized that he had forced many NATO member countries to spend 2% of GDP on defense budgets, mentioning the pressure he created during his first term to force countries in the alliance to meet their goals. pepper above. According to NATO’s most recent report, 23 out of 32 members of the bloc achieved the target of spending 2% of GDP on defense budget in 2024.
Currently, no NATO member spends 5% of GDP on military spending, including the US. It is unclear whether Mr. Trump intends to increase the US defense budget to 5% of GDP after taking office.
According to AFP, US President-elect Trump is not the only senior official calling for NATO to increase spending. Previously, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized that: “We will need more than 2%”. Mr. Rutte also warned about European nations being unprepared for the threat of a potential future war, and called on NATO members to “accelerate” defense spending.
In addition, leader of the German Parliament’s Defense Committee Marcus Faber said on January 7 that NATO countries will need to set a new target for military spending, but emphasized that this number will be 3%, not 5% as expected. Mr. Trump’s proposal. “Of course this will be decided and agreed upon through general consensus, not by one member state,” Mr. Faber affirmed.
A multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) in the Zaporizhzhia area (Ukraine) on December 25, 2024
On the other hand, during the press conference on January 7, Mr. Trump said that US President Joe Biden had hinted at allowing Ukraine to join NATO, implying that this was the reason why Russia launched a special military campaign. “Somewhere along the way, Mr. Biden said they should be able to join NATO. There’s someone standing right on Russia’s doorstep, so I can understand how they feel about that,” Mr. Trump said.
In fact, NATO countries agreed in 2008 on the possibility of Ukraine joining the bloc. However, the US and Germany recently no longer support this move due to concerns about the risk of NATO being dragged into conflict with Russia.
Mr. Trump pledged to push for a quick agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict, raising concerns about the future of Washington’s military aid to Kyiv.
