U.S. President Donald Trump has credited himself with pushing NATO allies to agree to higher defence spending targets.
In his State of the Union address to Congress, Trump said NATO countries, “our friends and allies,” had agreed to spend five per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on military defence following his “strong request.”
At a NATO summit in June 2025, allies agreed to invest at least 3.5 per cent of national GDP in core defence spending, with a further 1.5 per cent earmarked for defence-related areas such as infrastructure.
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The combined five per cent target is to be reached by 2035.
The previous benchmark had been two per cent of GDP.
Trump has long urged alliance members to boost military budgets and warned he could scale back U.S. support if allies failed to spend five per cent of GDP on defence.
(NAN)
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