Trump wants 5% Nato defence spending target, Europe told

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Donald Trump’s team has told European officials that the incoming US president will require NATO member states to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, but plans to continue providing military aid to Ukraine.

The US president-elect’s closest foreign policy aides shared his intentions during discussions with top European officials this month, according to people familiar with the talks, as he reaffirms his policy toward Europe and. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

During his campaign for the White House. Trump vowed to freeze aid to Ukraine, force Kiev to immediately start peace talks and leave NATO allies defenseless if they fail to spend enough on defense, terrifying European capitals.

But for allies deeply concerned about their ability to support and defend Ukraine without Washington’s support, Trump now intends to maintain US military supplies to Kiev after his inauguration, according to three other people briefed on discussions with Western officials.

Trump, meanwhile, is expected to ask NATO to more than double its 2 percent spending target, which only 23 of the alliance’s 32 members currently meet, to 5 percent, two people briefed on the talks said.

One person said they understood Trump would settle for 3.5 percent and that he planned to explicitly link higher defense spending and an offer of more favorable trade terms with the U.S. “Obviously we’re talking about 3 percent or about more [Nato’s June summit in] The Hague summit,” another European official said, summing up Trump’s thinking.

NATO allies are already in discussions zooming in on the target to 3 percent at that leaders’ meeting in June, but many capitals are concerned about the tough fiscal decisions that would be required to do so.

According to the White House office of management and budgetThe US will spend about 3.1 percent of GDP on defense in 2024. In 2020, the Pentagon’s spending reached 3.4 percent during the first year of Trump’s presidency.

NATO’s main European allies, including France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Poland, met Wednesday evening in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss how the continent will fare. adjust the defense policy in response to Trump’s return.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a separate phone conversation with Trump on Thursday during the EU leaders’ summit. Scholz later told reporters that he was “absolutely confident that the United States and Europe will continue their support for Ukraine.” Senior British security officials traveled to Washington earlier this month to assess the president-elect’s plans.

While Trump still believes Ukraine should never join NATO and wants an immediate end to the conflict, the president-elect believed supplying arms to Kiev after a ceasefire would ensure a “peace through force” outcome, they added.

After 24 hours of meetings with NATO and EU leaders in Brussels this week, Zelensky said Thursday that European pledges to protect Ukraine would be kept. “not enough” without the participation of the USA.

Additional reporting by George Parker in London