President Donald Trump joined a long line of presidents who complained that the NATO countries fail to pay their fair share and therefore take advantage of the United States. In 2014, the European NATO countries agreed to a target of spending 2% of their GDP on defense by 2024. In 2014, only the United States, the U.K. and Greece were spending at least 2%. In a recent interview, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said just 23 of NATO's 32 countries met the 2024 target of 2%.
President Barack Obama complained. In March 2014, the AP reported, "President Barack Obama says he's concerned that some NATO allies are reducing their spending on defense."
In February 2015, Defense News wrote, "US President Barack Obama warned British Prime Minister David Cameron against allowing defense spending to slip below NATO's target of 2 percent of gross domestic product ..."
President George W. Bush complained. In an April 2008 speech in Romania, he said: "Building a strong NATO Alliance also requires a strong European defense capacity. So, at this summit, I will encourage our European partners to increase their defense investments to support both NATO and EU operations."
Trump not only complained. He raged. At the 2018 NATO breakfast meeting in Brussels, Trump delivered a beat down: "Just look at the chart. Take a look at the chart. It's public. And many countries are not paying what they should. And, frankly, many countries owe us a tremendous amount of money for many years back, where they're delinquent, as far as I'm concerned, because the United States has had to pay for them. So, if you go back 10 or 20 years, you'll just add it all up. It's massive amounts of money is owed. The United States has paid and stepped up like nobody. This has gone on for decades, by the way. This has gone on for many presidents. But no other president brought it up like I bring it up. So, something has to be done ..."
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Trump was just getting warmed up. He continued: "And I think that these countries have to step it up not over a 10-year period; they have to step it up immediately. ... So, we're going to have to do something because we're not going to put up with it. We can't put up with it. And it's inappropriate."
Fast forward to the June 2025 NATO summit. The BBC reported: "NATO allies promised to raise defense related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. ... NATO's chief Mark Rutte heaped praise on Trump and gave him the credit: 'America expects European allies and Canada to contribute more. And that is exactly what we see them doing.'"
Several factors pressured the NATO countries to go from dragging their feet to hit 2% to agreeing to the much larger target of 5%. President Joe Biden's abrupt and chaotic pullout from Afghanistan raised questions about America's competence, leadership and willingness to stick to its commitments. The Russian invasion of Ukraine brought to Europe's doorstep the possibility of Russian aggression. But the biggest factor was Trump himself. When Rutte praised Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, he admitted NATO deserved Trump's kick in the pants for not spending a larger percentage of their GDP on defense.
Rutte, in a private message Trump made public, said: "Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win."
Not only did Trump demand and obtain a commitment from the NATO countries to spend 5% of their GDP on defense, but he also said the United States need not do so. Trump said, "I don't think we should, but I think they should. We've been supporting NATO so long. ... So, I don't think we should, but I think that the NATO countries should, absolutely."
Apparently neither George W. Bush nor Barack Obama were available for comment.
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