Ever since he first started running for president in 2015, Donald Trump has often complained about NATO. He’s called it “obsolete,” and complained about the United States having to pay too much of its costs.
“NATO was set up at a different time. NATO was set up when we were a richer country,” Trump said in a 2016 meeting with the Washington Post editorial board. “We’re not a rich country anymore. We’re borrowing, we’re borrowing all of this money…NATO is costing us a fortune and yes, we’re protecting Europe with NATO but we’re spending a lot of money.”
By 2020, when he was running for re-election, Trump claimed that he had persuaded NATO members to spend more on defense.
“Our NATO partners, as an example, were very far behind in their defense payments, but at my strong urging, they agreed to pay $130 billion more a year,” Trump said in his Republican Convention speech that year. “And this $130 billion will ultimately go to $400 billion a year.”
After the Russian Invasion
Trump lost that election, and during his term out of office, Russia invaded Ukraine, with Russia arguing dubiously that NATO expansion made the invasion necessary.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump continued to make claims about NATO, claiming that he had told the leader of one country that he would not protect them if they failed to pay their “bills.”
However, as pointed out by CNN at the time, that’s not really how NATO works.
“While a majority of NATO members do not meet the alliance’s target of each member spending a minimum of 2% of gross domestic product on defense, the 2% target is a “guideline” that does not create bills, debts or legal obligations if it is not met,” fact-checker Daniel Dale wrote in 2024. “In fact, the guideline doesn’t require payments to NATO or the US at all. Rather, it simply requires each country to spend on their own defense programs.”
The 2025 View on NATO for Trump
Now, with Trump back in office, he’s once again saber-rattling about NATO.
According to CNBC, Trump has called for NATO states to increase their share of defense spending.
“I think NATO should have 5% [of their GDP as a NATO contribution target],” he said in a January speech, prior to taking office.“They can all afford it, but they should be at 5%, not 2%.”
Per CNBC, 23 of the 32 NATO members are estimated to have met the 2 percent target in 2024. None, not even the U.S., spent 5 percent of their GDP on defense.
One leader, Polish President Andrzej Duda, told CNBC at Davos this week that he supports returning to Cold War-era spending levels, as a bulwark against Russia. Poland borders Ukraine.
“If we want to defend against this – and us Poles decisively do – we’re spending close to 5% of GDP on defense this year. We’re aware that we have to modernize our armed forces, we have to be strong and provide a real deterrent to keep Russia aggression at bay,” President Duda said.
Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, also favors increased spending.
More NATO Military Spending: Harder Than It Sounds
The question is, what would a Trump-led U.S. do if not enough countries agree to increase spending? He can ask, and make a big deal about it, and maybe even threaten to pull out of NATO, but making threats, during Trump’s first term, appeared to have an effect.
Meanwhile, per ABC News, it would be difficult politically for some countries to get up to the 5 percent threshold.
“The truth is defense spending is not popular in European countries, whether it’s Spain or another European country,” Nicolás Pascual de la Parte, a member of the European Parliament from Spain’s conservative Popular Party, told ABC. “We grew accustomed after the Second World War to delegate our ultimate defense to the United States of America through its military umbrella, and specifically its nuclear umbrella.”
Author Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
