NATO Allies Commit To Trump’s Demand Of 5% Defense Spending Target

NATO allies gave in to the demands from U.S. President Donald Trump to commit 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) for defense spending, despite Spain’s protests earlier this week.

The military alliance also reiterated its commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, stating that an attack on one of the allies is an attack on all of them. In its Hague Summit declaration, the alliance called for unity.

“United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035,” it said.

The higher 5% spending commitment has two parts – 3.5% of it will go toward defense expenditure, and 1.5% will go toward the protection of critical infrastructure and strengthening the defense industrial base.

Earlier on Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reassured allies that the U.S. and President Trump were committed to the alliance.

This was after President Trump posted on Truth Social what appeared to be a personal message from Rutte.

“You will achieve something no American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a big way, as they should,” the message read, seemingly from Rutte.

Trump and his predecessors have called out other NATO members for not contributing enough to the military alliance. Some members like Canada, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Portugal, among others, are still below NATO’s previous target of spending 2% of their GDP on defense.

Meanwhile, U.S. equity markets edged up on Wednesday amid an evolving geopolitical situation.

At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was up 0.17% during pre-market hours, while the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) gained 0.36%. Stocktwits data shows retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF has been in the ‘extremely bearish’ territory over the past week.

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Also See: Mark Rutte Says US Has ‘Total Commitment’ To NATO – Backs Trump’s Play To Increase Defense Spending