{"id":43850,"date":"2018-07-03T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/03\/nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:55:08","slug":"nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/03\/nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism\/","title":{"rendered":"NATO allies defend military spending amid Trump criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">BRUSSELS \u2014 NATO allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defense, as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure ahead of a summit next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the last few weeks before NATO\u2019s July 11-12 summit in Brussels, Trump sent letters to Norway, other European allies and Canada demanding that they boost defense spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/21\/why-the-head-of-nato-says-theres-no-guarantee-that-the-trans-atlantic-alliance-will-survive\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18172394899011.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Why the head of NATO says there\u2019s \u2018no guarantee\u2019 that the trans-Atlantic alliance will survive<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The bonds between Europe and North America are under strain and there\u2019s no guarantee the trans-Atlantic partnership will survive, the head of NATO warned Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After Russia annexed Ukraine\u2019s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, NATO allies agreed that year to end defense budget cuts, start spending more as their economies grew and move toward a goal of 2 percent of GDP for defense spending within a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an email Tuesday to The Associated Press, Norwegian Defense Minister Frank Bakke-Jensen said \u201cNorway stands by its decision of the NATO Summit in 2014 and is following up on this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Norway has spent \u201cfar beyond\u201d NATO\u2019s target on new military equipment, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/05\/17\/trump-nato-allies-who-miss-spending-targets-will-be-dealt-with\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18137662054525.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump: NATO allies who miss spending defense targets will be \u2018dealt with\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that NATO allies that do not meet the organization\u2019s defense spending targets would be \u201cdealt with,\u201d and singled out Germany as one country he said was not doing enough.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday that \u201cwe stand by the 2 percent goal we\u2019ve set.\u201d She added that \u201cwe\u2019re on the path there. And we\u2019re prepared &#8230; to take substantial responsibility within the alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When faced with the suggestion that such German explanations for not spending 2 percent of GDP yet might not make an impression on Trump, she retorted: \u201cWe don\u2019t want to impress anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The upcoming NATO summit is the first major meeting since the fractious Group of Seven talks in Canada last month. NATO officials are concerned that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/06\/06\/mattis-trade-dispute-with-europe-wont-damage-relations-within-nato-alliance\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">trans-Atlantic divisions over trade tariffs<\/a> and the U.S. pullout from the Paris global climate agreement and the Iran nuclear deal could undermine alliance unity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the letter to Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, dated June 19, Trump wrote that despite her country\u2019s important role in the alliance Norway \u201cremains the only NATO ally sharing a border with Russia that lacks a credible plan to spend 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"819\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18184578494761.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-88773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18184578494761.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18184578494761.jpg.jpg?resize=300,240 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18184578494761.jpg.jpg?resize=768,614 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A copy of a letter sent to the Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway by U.S. President Donald Trump demanding an increase in Norway&#8217;s NATO spending is photographed in Washington, Tuesday, July 3, 2018. The letter was supplied to the Associated Press by the Norwegian Defense Ministry. (J. David Ake\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The stance was repeated in a similar letter to Belgium, where Trump said it will \u201cbecome increasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries continue to fail to meet our shared collective security commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/05\/25\/trump-scolds-fellow-nato-leaders-spend-more-for-military\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Trump dressed down his NATO counterparts<\/a> last year, publicly berating them for not spending enough and claiming they owe the U.S. money. When he first came to office he even suggested that the U.S. \u2014 by far NATO\u2019s most powerful ally \u2014 might not protect countries that don\u2019t pull their weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel played down the importance of the letter he received, saying it was \u201ctypical\u201d of things sent ahead of meetings like the NATO summit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am not too intimidated by this type of mail,\u201d he said, adding that Belgium is doing its part in the military alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe participate in many military operations with our NATO allies and it is this government that decided to end the systematic reduction of defense spending,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Canada, Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan\u2019s chief of communications said the government has committed to increasing funding by more than 70 percent over the next decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis plan has been rigorously costed, is fully funded, and serves Canada\u2019s defense needs. It also upholds our long-standing role as an active contributor to global peace and security,\u201d said Director of Communications Ren\u00e9e Filiatrault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the political rhetoric from the Trump administration, the 2 percent figure does not concern spending on NATO and no one owes the alliance or any ally money. It is about the size of national defense budgets only. Other factors that nations take into consideration when looking at burden-sharing are the amount of money spent on new military equipment and contributions to NATO operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/09\/20\/nato-chief-welcomes-trumps-new-approach\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"214\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_17250333461584.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">NATO chief welcomes Trump&#8217;s new approach<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">NATO\u2019s secretary-general welcomed President Donald Trump\u2019s new strategy for the 16-year Afghan war and said the U.S. leader\u2019s insistence that NATO members increase their defense spending is achieving positive results.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the U.S. spends more on defense than all the others combined \u2014 3.61 percent of GDP in 2016, or around $664 billion. That\u2019s roughly two thirds of total spending on national budgets, according to NATO estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump argues that a pledge was made and must be kept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe president has publicly shared his frustration that he\u2019d like to see other countries step up and do more, particularly when they have the capability and they\u2019ve made the commitment to do 2 percent. He\u2019d like to see them fulfill that commitment,\u201d White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe United States has more than surpassed that and is carrying a lot of that burden and he wants to see other countries that have the capability to do that step up and do the part that they committed to do,\u201d she told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Others argue the 2 percent pledge is a guideline only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cYou can ask 10 lawyers to provide a legal interpretation of that document and then you will have, I guess, 10 different interpretations,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/global\/europe\/2017\/12\/12\/stoltenberg-confirmed-for-two-more-years-as-nato-head\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg<\/a> said. \u201cThis document is not a legal document. It is a political document with a political commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Olsen reported from Copenhagen, Denmark. Raf Casert in Brussels, Darlene Superville in Washington, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Toronto-based Robert Gillies contributed.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defense, as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure ahead of a summit next week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,92,93,12,25,67,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1733,1217],"class_list":["post-43850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RIQF5B36ANCJHPGSB3LCWPRYN4","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/03\/nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NATO allies defend military spending amid Trump criticism - Marine Corps Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NATO allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defense, as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure ahead of a summit next week.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NATO allies defend military spending amid Trump criticism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"NATO allies are pushing back against U.S. criticism that they are not spending enough on defense, as President Donald Trump ratchets up pressure ahead of a summit next week.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/03\/nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Marine Corps Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-03T20:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T07:55:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lorne Cook, The Associated Press, Jan M. 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