NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has floated a proposal for alliance members to raise defense spending to 3.5% of GDP, with an additional 1.5% allocated to broader security-related investments. The plan is viewed as a potential compromise to meet President Trump’s demand for a 5% spending commitment—without requiring members to hit that target strictly through military budgets.
NATO’s current benchmark is a minimum of 2% of GDP for defense spending, a goal currently met by 22 of the alliance’s 32 members.
No NATO country currently meets Trump’s 5% demand. The United States spends about 3.2% of GDP on defense, while Poland leads among allies with spending above 4%. European members are under growing pressure to boost defense budgets as the U.S. signals a shift away from its long-standing role as the continent’s primary security guarantor. Trump has warned that members not meeting spending expectations should not count on American support.
The proposal is still in its early stages, and it remains uncertain whether it will win support from all 32 NATO members.
