Trump is ‘right’: Rutte says NATO members need to spend more on arms

BUDAPEST — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is seeking to start off on the right foot with Donald Trump by praising the United States president-elect’s attempts to get NATO countries to spend more on defense, beyond the current 2 percent of GDP target.

“We will have to spend more … It will be much more than the 2 percent. I’m clear about that,” Rutte said on arrival at the European Political Community summit in Budapest on Thursday.

During his first term in the White House, Trump hammered European countries for not spending enough on their own defense, sponging off the U.S. for their security.

“He is right about this,” Rutte said, just hours after the latter’s election victory. “You will not get there with the 2 percent.”

Many NATO countries spent way below their commitment to dish out 2 percent of GDP in Trump’s first term, while Trump himself said in 2018 the target should be doubled to 4 percent.

“I look forward to [sitting] down with Donald Trump to discuss how to face these threats collectively,” Rutte added ahead of his meeting with leaders in the Hungarian capital.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a number of countries have significantly raised their outlay on military gear — including Germany, historically a laggard. Meanwhile, states like Poland and the Baltics are zooming upwards of 4 percent of their economic output on defense given fears about Russia.

Back in 2014, just three NATO member states were making good on the 2 percent pledge, but now a third of them — 23 states — are hitting the target, the alliance says.

Momentum is also building toward higher spending, with the United Kingdom sticking with its promise to get to 2.5 percent of GDP on defense this decade.

During his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament on Wednesday, the EU’s soon-to-be Defense and Space Commissioner Andrius Kubilius told lawmakers it was time for NATO to seriously raise it spending target.

“We need to discuss — but that is perhaps for NATO, we can ask NATO to discuss — [whether] the 2 percent target [is] enough,” Kubilius said. “From my point of view, it is not enough.”