Trump in focus: NATO summit could go beyond defense spending!
Trump in focus: NATO summit could go beyond defense spending!
Den Haag, Niederlande - President Donald Trump will take part in the Hague on June 24th and 25th, 2025, as the spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, confirmed Oe24 . The summit comes at a critical time, since NATO's heads of state and government could advise against increasing defense expenditure to five percent of the economic output. This proposal meant a significant increase compared to the current goal of two percent, which has been binding since 2014.
The pressure on NATO to increase expenses has grown in recent years, in particular in the context of Russian attack on Ukraine and the associated changed security situation in Europe Tagesschau . The NATO countries are currently planning to issue around 2.71% of their GDP for defense, which corresponds to a total of around $ 1.5 trillion.
expectations and discussions
There is now a certain consensus that the two percent goal set by NATO is no longer sufficient in the current geopolitical situation. The planned new defense issue of 3.5 percent is also to be discussed. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has already developed plans to keep Trump happy and to secure US membership in Allianz.
financial challenges
An increase to five percent would require an increase of hundreds of billions of euros, which many experts see as problematic Tagesschau . The Russian attack on Ukraine has also changed the threat situation and reinforced the need to invest in severe land forces. So far, only 23 of the 32 NATO countries have reached the two percent goal in 2022, while no country exceeded the five percent.
Poland with 4.1 percent, Estonia with 3.5 percent and the United States with 3.4 percent were the leaders in the defense spending sueddeutsche . Experts are skeptical about whether the armaments industry and the European armies could invest these additional funds sensibly.
The discussion about adapting the expenses is in full swing and will surely play a central role in the upcoming NATO summit, while Trump and the European heads of state and government will try to find a common course.
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| Ort | Den Haag, Niederlande |
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