The United States and NATO are expected to announce Monday that the number of allied countries spending at least 2% of their country’s economic output on defense has doubled during President Joe Biden’s term.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Washington and meeting with Biden ahead of the city’s hosting the alliance’s annual summit, set to take place in July.
“Just five years ago, there was still less than 10 allies that spent 2% of GDP on defense,” Stoltenberg said during remarks at The Wilson Center in Washington. “I can only now reveal that this year, more than 20 allies will spend at least 2% of GDP on defense.”
“This is good for Europe,” he added. “And good for America.”
At a 2014 summit in Wales, NATO members reaffirmed a commitment to spend a minimum of 2% of their country’s GDP on defense, a pledge with renewed urgency after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But only a fraction of the countries met that goal, leading to criticism from former President Donald Trump that the US shoulders too much of the cost of defending Europe.
“I’ve been saying, ‘Look – if they’re not going to pay, we’re not going to protect,’” Trump told a rally audience in February.
While US officials tell CNN the White House and NATO leadership have held frequent discussions on the need to increase spending across the alliance, the timing of the announcement would undercut a frequent attack line by Trump ahead of next week’s presidential debate hosted by CNN.
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
