NATO leaders on Wednesday backed a significant increase in defense spending, meeting a key demand from U.S. President Donald Trump and reaffirming their “ironclad” commitment to collective defense after a brief summit tailored to the American leader.
The 32-nation alliance endorsed a new goal to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035, a significant increase from the current 2% target. The move is a direct response to Trump’s long-standing demands and Europe’s growing fears of Russian aggression.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte acknowledged the financial challenge but called it a necessity, stating, “there is no alternative” given the threat from Russia.
The summit’s final statement also explicitly reaffirmed the “ironclad commitment” to Article 5—that an attack on one member is an attack on all. This was a crucial point of reassurance, coming just a day after Trump raised doubts about the clause. The entire summit was carefully orchestrated to be short and focused, a clear effort by Rutte to provide Trump with a diplomatic victory and avoid any public friction.
Despite the public display of unity, some cracks were visible. Spain declared it did not need to meet the full target, a point that was diplomatically sidestepped. More pointedly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban diluted the unified message, telling reporters that Russia was not a real threat to NATO.
