Trump renews call for NATO allies to boost military spending
Donald Trump on Tuesday urged NATO members to increase their defence spending to five percent of GDP, reiterating his long-standing criticism that they are not paying their fair share for US protection.
“They can all afford it, but they should be at five percent, not two percent,” the former US president told reporters.
“Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we’re in,” Trump said. “We have a thing called the ocean in between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more than Europe?”
Trump has frequently expressed scepticism about NATO, which has been a cornerstone of European security since World War II. Last month, he renewed his familiar threat to withdraw the US from the alliance if members do not increase their defence spending.
In 2023, NATO’s 32 member countries set a minimum defence spending target of two percent of GDP. However, Russia’s war in Ukraine has prompted the alliance to bolster its eastern flank and ramp up military expenditure.
Trump is not alone in calling for increased spending. NATO chief Mark Rutte also stated last month that “we are going to need a lot more than two percent.”
Rutte further warned that European nations are ill-prepared for the threat of a future war with Russia, urging them to “turbocharge” their defence budgets.
During his remarks on Tuesday, Trump claimed President Joe Biden’s support for Ukraine joining NATO contributed to Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Somewhere along the line, Biden said, no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feeling about that,” Trump said.
In reality, NATO allies first agreed to Ukraine’s membership in 2008 when Republican President George W. Bush was in office. However, more recently, the United States and Germany have backed away from granting Kyiv full membership, fearing it could escalate into a direct NATO-Russia conflict.
Trump has vowed to push for a swift resolution to Russia’s war in Ukraine, raising concerns about the future of US military aid for Kyiv, which has been crucial in resisting Moscow’s assault.
The conflict “should have never been started,” Trump said on Tuesday. “I guarantee you, if I were president, the war would have never happened.”
AFP
