Trump warns Nato to boost defence budgets ‘immediately’ ahead of summit
Nato allies must step up defence spending “immediately” or face consequences, the Trump Administration said on the eve of a key summit.
United States officials warned that many allies were “lagging behind” their pledge to spend 5% of GDP on the military by 2035.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a £15 billion ($35b) increase in defence spending but that will only raise the United Kingdom figure to 2.7% of GDP by 2029.
Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to Nato, said: “Some allies are doing more than others. Poland, the Nordic countries, the Baltic countries lead the way.
“But many others are lagging behind, and President Trump expects all allies to step up immediately, and not only get on a sustainable path to the 5% but get to 5% as soon as possible.”
Trump is thought to be planning to reward or punish countries based on their defence spending.
Higher spending is likely to bump countries up the queue for the purchase of US weapons and mean they are invited for more face-to-face meetings with the US President.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has begun a six-month review of military size and readiness in Europe, which could lead to withdrawing forces from countries that do not meet spending targets.
Senior US officials reiterated that failure to meet the 5% target would result in a “less capable Europe and Canada” in the long-term.
They said Trump would spell out any specific consequences for countries that failed to heed that warning in person at the Nato summit starting on Tuesday local time in Ankara, Turkey.
It threatens to put the US President on a collision course with Britain over defence spending, after Starmer played down hopes last week of finding extra cash for further increases.
He announced cuts to planned infrastructure projects to fund his latest defence boost, but suggested that Andy Burnham, the new Labour MP for Makerfield, who is expected to succeed him, will have to increase borrowing to shoulder around £5b ($11.7b) of the latest package.
The Telegraph revealed this week that Trump had little faith that Britain could turn around its defence spending woes.
The Nato summit will mark Starmer’s last opportunity to rebuild relations with the US President before he steps down.
Trump will also meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Ankara summit to discuss “how we can end the war”, a senior US official said, after the pair met on the sidelines of the G7 in Switzerland in June.
Ukraine has this year improved its position on the battlefield and is threatening the Russian capital with drones. At the weekend it all but cut power to Crimea by bombing electricity substations, triggering panic in the occupied peninsula.
Trump’s meeting with senior Nato leaders comes just months after he made comments that suggested the US would not honour Article 5, Nato’s mutual defence clause, should an ally come under attack from Russia.
Allies believe they will secure an American commitment at Ankara to the clause, which states that an “attack on one is an attack on all”.
A statement to be finalised by Nato’s 32 leaders will reaffirm an “ironclad commitment” to Article 5 and the alliance’s collective defence.
The wording was agreed by national ambassadors at a meeting in Brussels.
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