Trump telegraphs defense spending concerns ahead of NATO arrival

by UB Center for Urban Studies · 06/24/2025

President Donald Trump on Tuesday injected some uncertainty over whether the U.S. would abide by the mutual defense guarantees outlined in the NATO treaty prior to his arrival at its summit — comments that could revive long-standing concern from European allies about his commitment to the military alliance.

While NATO leaders are expected to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, Spain says it won’t get there, and Slovakia says it reserves the right to decide for itself. Trump last week went as far as to argue that the U.S. should not have to abide by the 5% spending pledge, although he appeared to soften those comments on Tuesday.

By LUENA RODRIGUEZ-FEO VILEIRA, MICHAEL WARREN and CURTIS YEE June 24, 2025

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