US President Donald Trump has expressed uncertainty about whether his administration should continue spending on NATO, saying, “We’re protecting them. They’re not protecting us.”
Trump told reporters that while the US is protecting NATO members, they are not offering the same level of protection in return, Reuters reported.
“I’m not sure we should be spending anything, but we should certainly be helping them,” Trump added after signing an executive order in the Oval Office.
He also reiterated his call for NATO members to increase their defense spending, saying, “They should up their 2% to 5%,” referring to NATO’s defense spending target, which is currently set at 2% of GDP for member states.
Trump made similar remarks earlier at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
According to NATO’s 2024 breakdown, the US finances 15.8% of the alliance’s annual expenditure, which amounts to around $3.5 billion. This contribution is the joint-largest alongside Germany’s.
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio, the new US Secretary of State, spoke with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, reaffirming the US commitment to the alliance.
The two leaders also discussed the importance of burden-sharing and having capable defense allies, according to a State Department statement released Thursday.
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