Hugh Cameron is a live news reporter from Newsweek founded on London, the United Kingdom, whose concentrate is in foreign politics, clash and crime. , Economic news and market trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in politics in 2022 and the University of Cambridge with a mastery in international relations in 2023. Languajes: English. You can touch Hugh by sending an email to h. cameron@newsweek. com
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If it is implemented in the United States, Donald Trump’s call so that NATO members are under defense spending can force the United States to assign another $ 500 billion years.
The calculation, carried out through the American historian and the Russian-born army, Max Boot, in reaction to the President-elect’s recent request for the Alliance to develop his target of existing expenditures for each of its members through 2 to 5% gross domestic product (GDP).
When reached for comment, Trump’s transition team returned to Newsweek for comments made through the president, choosing Tuesday’s news conference.
In addition to his most recent request, reports of which emerged last month, Trump suggested NATO members contribute more to defense, saying the U. S. has billed the European security bill for too long, even threatening to eliminate the U. S. of the alliance over this dispute. Other calls for members to develop defense spending from building UPDs since Russia introduced its giant full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In November, NATO general secretary Mark Rutte said that the alliance exceeds its existing 2 % objective agreed through the Member States in 2014, describing it as “simply not enough” given the threats raised through Russia to the continent, as well as those that are raised through China, North Korea and Iran.
During a demonstration of the Crusade of Southern Carolina in February, Trump told how he told the President a Member State of NATO that if they fail to develop their defense expenses, the United States would not do and inspire Russia “to make whatever they want.
“You can do all of that,” Trump told reporters at Tuesday’s Mar-a-Lago news conference. “But they deserve to be 5% and not 2%. “
Boot calculated that if the United States exceeds its 5% defense budget, it rises $ 500 billion in additional expenses.
“The U. S. defense budget is $824 billion. “Or is it 5% for other countries?”
According to the Atlantic Council in July, most NATO states have increased their defense spending since Russia’s invasion, with 23 of the alliance’s 32 members currently meeting the 2 percent threshold. As a result, NATO in June said that the collective investment in defense had risen from 1.43 percent of GDP in 2014 to 2.02 percent in 2024. Based on Pentagon projections, the U.S. will have spent 2.7 percent of its GDP on defense spending in 2024.
None of NATO’s members recently spends 5% of GDP on defence, with the closest to Poland being more than 4%.
In August, Polish Finance Minister said that defense spending in the country’s 2025 budget would constitute 4.7 percent of GDP, amid growing concern that the country could be targeted by Russia.
Stuart Dee, leader in Studies in the Defense and Security Group of Rand Europe, said that even reaching the purpose of 2% by many NATO countries, whose economic executives possibly would not accommodate more increases.
“The United States has long been an atypical case and has a much larger commercial and commercial defense base, which has supported without problems through a holistic technique for defense exports,” Dee told Newsweek. “Even this construction in spending in some cases however, up to 2% or more has been a challenge, given the inherent position of the opportunity to divert the investment of public expenses portfolios. “
Ralf Stegner, German politician and member of the German Social Democratic Party, Facebook: “Donald Trump needs to confiscate the Panama Canal and Greenland and is asking for 5% of GDP for the defense budgets of NATO partners. . . to fight them more actively. “
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary-General, during a conference in December: “[Trump] wants to make sure that the U.S. is not overspending and we are not doing enough, and he’s totally right. I mean, I remember when he became president in 2016, 2017, that he continued to push us, and since he became president we spent 641 billion more than before he came up… . Of course the full onslaught—the full scale onslaught of Russia on Ukraine has also ramped up defense spending, but he was very successful in ramping it up.”
Stuart Dee, research leader and co-director of RAND Europe’s Centre for Defence Economics and Acquisition, told Newsweek: “There is increasingly strong consensus in the security community that the NATO 2% target for defense—which to a large extent was an arbitrary target based on end-of Cold War logic—is an unrealistic fit with the rapidly evolving international security environment…here is a growing consensus in parallel that the United States is increasingly pulled in multiple directions and thus Europe will need to secure its own future in defense terms; intelligent management of acquisition profiles will be key to ensuring that an increased funding delta is well spent.”
In December, Rutte said NATO “would want much more than 2 percent” to counteract the threats raised through Russia, even arguing that states divert the expenditure of national systems to that end.
However, the allies have promoted excessive increases in the expense objectives, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently by calling such concepts “cooking” and wondering where the additional funds will be.
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Hugh Cameron is Newsweek Live News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on international politics, conflict, and crime. Hugh joined Newsweek in 2024, having worked at Alliance News Ltd where he specialised in covering global and regional business developments, economic news, and market trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a bachelor’s degree in politics in 2022, and from the University of Cambridge with a master’s degree in international relations in 2023. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Hugh by emailing [email protected]
Hugh Cameron is the Newsweek Live News reporter in London, in the United Kingdom, its purpose is to inform foreign policy, conflicts and crime. Hugh joined Newsweek in 2024, after running in Alliance News Ltd, where he specialized in the Global and Regional Advertising Development Policy, Economic News and Market Trends. He graduated from the University of Warwick with a baccalaureate in politics in 2022 and the University of Cambridge with a mastery in foreign relations in 2023. Languages: English. You can touch Hugh by sending an email to h. cameron@newsweek. com