US President Donald has got another chance to pat his back. NATO agreed on a big increase in military expenditure. Now all NATO countries will have to spend up to 5 percent of their national income on the army by 2035. This decision of NATO can further increase military tension in the world in the coming times. America can benefit from this, because it is one of the largest arms exporting countries in the world. Trump and the US are also looking at this opportunity as a business advantage.
The NATO Summit 2025 held in the netherlands not only completely changed the target of defense expenditure, but also added a new chapter in the relations between european allies and America. In this conference, european countries have decided to spend 5 percent of their national income on defense by 2035. This decision has come directly in response to the long-standing demands of President Donald Trump. US President donald trump believes that the US bears most of NATO's defence costs and European countries should stop giving freebies. He has refrained from publicly reaffirming NATO's Article 5, but it became clear at this summit that the US is still committed to collective defence.
The reality behind the promise of 5% defence spending
In this NATO expenditure, 3.5% of the budget will be spent on soldiers, weapons and missiles, while the remaining 1.5% will be spent on military-related projects such as roads, cyber security and emergency health services. However, the question arises whether all countries will be able to meet this target? Countries like spain have already indicated that they will limit themselves to only 2.1%. Countries like slovakia and belgium also consider this target impossible, so only countries close to the US have agreed to the language of the conference instead of all countries.
Trump's silence on the Article 5 debate and Rutte's clarification
Article 5, which is the basic principle of NATO, is that an attack on one is an attack on all. In the past few years, the agreement was in doubt due to Trump's silence, but this time Rutte got Trump to publicly confirm that the US is still committed to the treaty. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte repeatedly urged the media to stop questioning the US commitment. However, he was clear that this summit was specifically designed to satisfy Trump.
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