Trump reportedly wants NATO members to boost defense spending to 5 percent of GDP

Donald Trump wants NATO countries to increase their defense spending to more than double the current target, the Financial Times and the Telegraph reported.

According to the reports, Trump’s team has told European officials that the U.S. president-elect expected NATO allies to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of national gross domestic product after his Jan. 20 inauguration — more than double the alliance’s current 2 percent target.

Trump’s team also reportedly said that the incoming U.S. administration would continue supporting Ukraine. Trump’s election had led to concern in Europe about the future of the U.S.’s support to Kyiv after Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance criticized 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 defense 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 defense spending.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has partially sided with Trump on this issue. “We will have to spend more … It will be much more than the 2 percent. I’m clear about that,” Rutte said during the European Political Community summit in Budapest last month.

“It is time to shift to a wartime mindset,” Rutte later said following reports that NATO will set a new spending target of 3 percent of GDP by 2030.

In an NBC interview Dec. 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.