NATO Chief Rutte Says Members Moving Toward 5% Spending Target

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Bloomberg

May 26, 2025 at 11:32 AM EDT


NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the alliance will seek to adopt a new defense spending target of 5% of GDP at a June summit, meeting a demand by US President Donald Trump that had originally seemed unrealistic.

“I assume that in The Hague we will agree on a higher defense spending target of in total 5%,” Rutte said during a televised question and answer session at the NATO parliamentary assembly in the US.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof had mentioned this number as having been proposed by the secretary general, and Bloomberg reported the positive momentum toward reaching it. This was the first public endorsement for the target by Rutte.

The proposal includes a 3.5% target for hard defense spending and an extra 1.5% for defense-related outlays such as infrastructure for military mobility. Rutte didn’t not confirm the specifics but said the target for hard defense spending would be “considerably north of 3%” with an extra target for related spending.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-26/nato-chief-rutte-says-members-moving-toward-5-spending-target?srnd=homepage-americas

[cstanleytech]

1. How much were they spending compared to the US?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Here

(above from here - https://www.visualcapitalist.com/which-countries-meet-natos-spending-target/)


Their most recent (PDF) - https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2024/6/pdf/240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_67655.htm

[cstanleytech]

5. Mmmmm it seems a number of them including the US need to catch up to Poland then.

[Prairie Gates]

3. Trump doesn't want the 5% target met...he wants the dissolution of NATO

He will celebrate it as a great victory for his negotiating position and strategy, but it is actually a bit of a Brer Rabbit situation for him. He's a Putinite trashbag. He wants NATO gone, not strengthened. He set an unrealistic target with the hopes that it would not be met.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. The U.S. is not doing "5%" either

so it's like a throw-away threat.