NATO clinches defense spending deal in big win for Trump

THE HAGUE — NATO allies on Wednesday agreed to unleash an avalanche of new defense spending in a show of unity aimed at keeping U.S. President Donald Trump on board and Russian leader Vladimir Putin at bay.

The trick to getting there? Handing Trump what he called "a great victory."

In a carefully stage-managed summit built around brevity and predictability, leaders signed off on a new 5 percent of gross domestic product defense spending target by 2035. That will be made up of 3.5 percent of GDP for “hard” capabilities like weapons and troops, and 1.5 percent for defense-adjacent investments such as cyber and mobility. 

Trump called the outcome "a monumental win for the United States," and claimed credit for putting pressure on alliance members to increase their defense spending.

He said it was "really moving" to see allied leaders wanting to defend their countries and how they needed the United States to help and how NATO was "not a rip off."

The deal was finalized ahead of the meeting in The Hague and then signed off by leaders, an effort to ensure a smooth summit.

“This is a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance that NATO leaders have begun to build,” Secretary-General Mark Rutte said shortly after the meeting ended. “President Trump made it clear: America is committed to NATO … At the same time, he made clear that America expects European allies and Canada to contribute more. And that is exactly what we see them doing.”

In the final summit statement, which was kept to a slim five paragraphs, military alliance members agreed to the new long-term defense spending goal. Leaders also committed to rapidly expanding defense production across the alliance.

Rutte made a point of flattering Trump, praising him for pressing other countries to boost their defense spending and underscoring his commitment to the alliance.

Rutte even called Trump the "daddy" for intervening in the fighting between Israel and Iran.

Other leaders also laid it on the U.S. president.

“This is the success of President Donald Trump,” Poland’s pro-Trump President Andrzej Duda told POLITICO. “He was the one who demanded that NATO nations raise their defense spending.”

As a result, during the leaders’ roundtable, which was kept to a tight two-and-a-half hours, Trump struck an unexpectedly measured tone, according to someone inside the room, who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

He reaffirmed America’s commitment to NATO “for four years,” the person said, the length of his second term as president. While repeating concerns about burden sharing, he praised allies and emphasized unity. 

After the summit, Trump said he was "honored" to take part.

Trump’s positive mood was also helped by a phone call from Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu on his flight to The Hague, one White House administration official said, where the Israeli leader promised to abide by Trump’s ceasefire proposal in Iran. 

Seesaw summit

Still, the summit didn’t come without its wobbles.

In the days before the high-stakes meeting, Spain almost torpedoed a deal by declaring its opposition to the headline spending target — then opened a can of worms by arguing it had secured an opt-out. That prompted countries like Belgium and Slovakia to also push for more flexibility.

The crucial benchmark is reaching NATO’s new capability targets. The alliance has calculated that it will cost countries about 3.5 percent of GDP to do that — although Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez claims Madrid can reach them by spending only 2.1 percent of GDP.

The Spanish prime minister called his spending target “sufficient, realistic and compatible.”

However, Trump denounced the Spanish position as "terrible" and warned that he would make Madrid pay "twice as much" in ongoing trade negotiations.

But it is unclear how the U.S. would do that as Spain is part of the EU and the bloc negotiates trade deals for all its members.

Trump also threw a mini-grenade into the summit on Tuesday by suggesting there were “numerous definitions” of NATO’s common defense Article 5 provision — a statement the alliance’s frontline countries rushed to play down.

However, by the end of the conference, Trump said: "We are here to help them defend their country."

Friedrich Merz, attending his first NATO summit as German chancellor, said Trump had “stated very clearly” that he remains committed to NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.

“I was pleased that in all of his statements, there was not a single indication of doubt from his side about the willingness to fully uphold solidarity and the alliance,” he told reporters after the meeting.

“President Trump today did not say anything about this,” Duda added. The final NATO declaration said the joint commitment to Article 5 is “ironclad.”

Still, this year’s meeting spent much less time on Ukraine than previous iterations — a sign of Trump’s wariness toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his ongoing effort to sweet talk Russia into agreeing to a ceasefire. In his final statement, Trump called Putin "misguided."

Trump met with Zelenskyy after the summit and said Kyiv was interested in pursuing peace.

The final summit declaration made no mention of Kyiv’s bid to join the alliance, but noted that allies “reaffirm their enduring sovereign commitments to provide support to Ukraine” and that military aid sent to Ukraine will count toward member country defense spending.

In his post-summit comments, Rutte underlined NATO’s “unwavering support” for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron, too, warned Russia’s war “remains the main concern of Europeans.”

“It is the one that justifies this long-term rearmament, because it is a threat that will persist.”

Eli Stokols and Esther Webber contributed to this report.