NATO Allies Pledge Significant Boosts in Defense Spending

NATO allies have agreed to a significant boost in defense spending, amid criticism that nations were not investing enough. According to NATO, the alliance will commit to spending at least 5% of its gross domestic product on defense.

A NATO statement noted that countries will allocate an additional 1.5% of their GDP to protect infrastructure, networks, and civil preparedness, in addition to committing 3.5% to core defense requirements. Nations are expected to submit annual plans on defense spending, with the goal of reaching the 5% target by 2035.

This move marks a significant increase from the previous agreement, where NATO allies committed to spend 2% of their national GDP on defense. However, some countries failed to meet this benchmark, with Spain spending an estimated 1.3%, Canada 1.4%, and Italy 1.5% in 2024.

"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 also expressed support for the increased spending, stating that Canada must strengthen its defense to better protect its sovereignty and interests.

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, when NATO troops joined U.S. forces to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.