After Donald Trump’s Pressure, NATO Members Agree To Hike Defence Spending By 5 Per Cent

New Delhi: After mounting pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, NATO leaders on Wednesday agreed to a significant increase in defense spending. The 32-member alliance formally endorsed a plan to boost annual defense-related expenditures to 5% of GDP by 2035.

“Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations,” the summit’s final communique read. 

While some member states, including Spain, have already expressed difficulty in meeting the ambitious target.

Reasserting the core principle of NATO’s founding treaty, leaders emphasized their unwavering support for Article 5, the alliance’s collective defense clause.

“An attack on one is an attack on all,” the joint statement affirmed, using the term “ironclad” to underscore unity amid recent political skepticism.

This reassurance comes in direct response to Trump’s repeated questioning of whether the U.S. would come to the aid of NATO allies.

Though not currently in office, Donald Trump’s recent remarks appeared to have a decisive influence on the summit’s agenda. 

Trump had publicly suggested that under his leadership, the U.S. might not defend NATO allies who “don’t pay their share.”