Even as Trump bashes Nato, most members spend over 2% on defence — some more than US

US President Donald Trump has yet again trashed allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) over their defence spending.

In his virtual address at the World Economic Forum (WEF), Trump said the Nato allies were not spending enough. He said they “have been unfair for many years to the United States”. Trump went on to ask Nato allies to spend 5 per cent of their economy on defence.

Even as Trump trashed Nato and sung praises about Russian and Chinese leaders, the facts are not on his side — as if often the case.

Firstly, even the United States does not spend 5 per cent of its economy on defence.

Secondly, unlike how Trump has been portraying it for the past year, there is no formal mandatory threshold of defence spending for a Nato member.

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Thirdly, most Nato members spend above the mutually-decided aspirational target of defence spending and some even spend more than the United States.

Trump trashes Nato & praises Xi, Putin

In the latest episode of threats to allies and public display of affection for adversaries, Trump dubbed Nato members “unfair” and described Chinese leader Xi Jinping as someone who he likes “very much” and has “always liked”.

“I like President Xi very much. I’ve always liked him. We always had a very good relationship. It was very strained with Covid coming out of Wuhan. Obviously, that strained it. I’m sure it strained it with a lot of people, but that strained our relationship. But we always had a great relationship, I would say, and we look forward to doing very well with China and getting along with China,” said Trump.

There are already signs that Trump’s affection for Trump is translating into policy. Trump has rewarded China by undoing the ban on TikTok , the app China uses to peddle anti-West and pro-China content to indoctrinate the masses and brainwashing them into becoming supporters of China. Trump is also favourable to China in tariffs. While Trump has threatened ally Canada and neighbour Mexico with 25 per cent tariffs, he has just threatened China with 10 per cent tariff .

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As for Putin, Trump said that the two leaders were working on denuclearisation before he lost the 2020 election. He said that he would like to resume it now and would expect Xi to join the initiative.

As for the Nato, it was the repetition of a now-familiar tirade.

Trump said, “I’m also going to ask all NATO nations to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, which is what it should have been years ago — it was only at 2 percent, and most nations didn’t pay until I came along; I insisted that they pay, and they did — because the United States was really paying the difference at that time, and it’s — it was unfair to the United States. But many, many things have been unfair for many years to the United States.”

Facts not on Trump’s side — as usual

Even as Trump has berated Nato for not doing enough, the fact is that most Nato members are doing enough — some more than the United States.

Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported that 23 of 32 Nato members spend more than 2 per cent of their economy on defence.

While Trump has asked Nato members to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of their economy, even the United States does not spend that much.

Griffin reported that the US defence spending is 3.4 per cent of the economy.

Moreover, Griffin reported that Poland (4.1 per cent) and Estonia (3.4 per cent) spend more than the United States.

At a separate occasion this week, when this was pointed out to Trump by a journalist, he retorted: “We are protecting them, they are not protecting us.”

In his hubris, and perhaps lack of knowledge as well, Trump did not recall that the only time that the collective defence mechanism of Nato has been invoked was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that the United States suffered. When the United States needed its allies whether in the immediate aftermath of the attacks or in the subsequent Global War on Terror, the Nato allies were there. However, now that Europe is facing the worst security crisis from Russian aggression, Trump is holding them hostages over purported “unfair” treatment that he says European allies have meted out to the United States.

Despite Trump’s assertion that Nato allies are not spending enough, the fact is that there is no minimum spending requirement.

The oft-cited 2 per cent spending is an informal aspirational spending target , not a mandatory obligation.

Another fact is that most of the increase in defence spending among allies happened during his predecessor Joe Biden’s tenure. Griffin noted that only nine Nato members spent 2 per cent on defence when Trump left office, but the number rose to 21 by the time Biden left office.

Revitalising alliances like Nato and reinvesting in partnerships like Quad was central to Biden’s foreign policy. As Nato celebrated its 75th anniversary last year, while Trump called it “delinquent”, Biden called it “bulwark of global security”.

“The fact that Nato remains the bulwark of global security did not happen by accident. It wasn’t inevitable. Again and again, at critical moments, we chose unity over disunion, progress over retreat, freedom over tyranny and hope over fear. Again and again, we stood behind our shared vision of a peaceful and prosperous trans-Atlantic community,” said Biden.