As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization held meetings on Wednesday, leaders from the bloc of Western nations agreed to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, NATO announced.
According to a NATO statement, nations will commit to spending at least 3.5% on core defense requirements. These nations will allocate an additional 1.5% of their GDP to protect infrastructure, networks, and civil preparedness. Nations will be expected to submit annual plans on defense spending.
Nations have until 2035 to reach the 5% target.
Previously, NATO leaders agreed to commit 2% of their national GDP to defense spending. However, according to U.S. government data, some nations did not meet that benchmark. For instance, Spain spent an estimated 1.3% of its GDP on defense in 2024, while Canada spent 1.4% and Italy spent 1.5%.
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"I've been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years, and they're going up to 5% and that's a big (jump) from 2% and a lot of people didn't even pay the 2%, so I think it's going to be very big news," President Trump said. "NATO is going to become very strong with us."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said his nation agreed to the increased spending.
"The world is increasingly dangerous and divided," Carney said. "Canada must strengthen our defense to better protect our sovereignty, our interests, and our allies. These investments won’t just build our military capacity – they will build our industries and create good, high-paying jobs at home. If we want a more secure world, we need a stronger Canada.”
NATO is a 32-member alliance that has agreed by treaty to come to each other's defense if attacked. The only time Article 5 of NATO has been invoked was following the attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. NATO troops joined U.S. forces to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The NATO alliance has grown since President Trump’s first term as Finland and Sweden have joined. There has also been discussion about how much of a role NATO should have in Ukraine's defense against Russia.
During Trump’s first term, he was at times critical of the alliance, claiming some members were not spending enough of their GDP on defense.
