President Donald Trump could opt to skip the upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands in June unless other members of the multi-national defense alliance act on sharing more of the costs, according to reports Friday.
Reuters, citing the Spiegel news magazine, reported that European diplomatic sources say Trump is pressuring the countries, particularly Germany, to increase spending on defense, reports The Jerusalem Post.
Trump has long called for the European allied nations to increase their spending, and last week, when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, the topic was further discussed, according to a DOD readout of their conversation.
The two secretaries discussed shared priorities, including the “administration’s intent for European allies to assume primary responsibility for Europe’s conventional defenses,” the administration reported, adding that Hegseth “commended Germany on recent actions to lift its debt brake while urging the Minister to actualize defense spending increases and accelerate development of credible capabilities.”
Thursday, NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker told Newsmax that Europe’s NATO allies will step up to handle more of their defense.
“The United States is not going to leave Europe. But at the same time, we need to equalize,” Whitaker said, adding that the European allies understand they need to pay more on defense spending.
“We need to make sure that our European allies, as President Trump always says, pay their fair share, and we’re going to see significant developments as we head to the summit in June,” Whitaker said, giving no indication about Trump’s personal plans on attending the gathering.
Trump has long argued that NATO member states should ramp up their military spending, including telling reporters in the Oval Office in March that the United States would not defend other countries that he does not think are spending enough money.
“It’s common sense, right?” he said at the time. “If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them.”
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