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NATO Chief Says Trump’s Leadership Driving Higher Allied Defense Spending
(MENAFN) NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Tuesday that he is highly confident about the alliance’s future, crediting US President Donald Trump with pushing member states to significantly raise defense spending.
During a joint press conference in Podgorica alongside Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, Rutte said European allies have responded to Washington’s demands regarding NATO’s long-term direction.
"We clearly see that the Europeans have heard the American president and are responding when it comes to the more fundamental question of NATO's future. I'm extremely optimistic, and I'm extremely optimistic because of President Trump," Rutte said.
He noted that every NATO member has now reached the alliance’s benchmark of allocating at least 2% of GDP to defense spending, including larger economies such as Canada, Spain, Belgium and Italy, which had previously failed to meet the target.
"And I think the re-election of President Trump played a large role here," he said.
Rutte also referred to decisions taken during the NATO summit in The Hague, where allies agreed to move toward a broader goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense, including 3.5% dedicated specifically to core military capabilities.
"This is something that President Trump has been pushing for for many years, and he has been successful now, at the beginning of his second term, to get this done," he said.
According to Rutte, the planned increase in military spending is intended not only to balance defense responsibilities between Europe and the United States, but also to address what NATO sees as growing security threats from Russia.
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