The U.S. will call on all NATO members to develop concrete plans to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said June 4, 2025. (NATO)
The United States will demand that all NATO allies develop clear plans to hit new defense spending targets in a timely manner, the top American diplomat to the bloc said Wednesday.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said a deadline had yet to be set for member countries to hit a benchmark of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defense.
“The United States expects every ally to step up with concrete plans, budgets, timelines (and) deliverables to meet the 5% target and close capability gaps,” Whitaker told reporters ahead of a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Thursday.
The agreement being worked on will carry more urgency than the 2014 Wales summit’s arrangement, which gave allies a decade to raise spending levels to 2% of GDP, Whitaker said.
“This is not going to be just a pledge; this is going to be a commitment,” Whitaker said. “There’s not unlimited time. We cannot have another Wales pledge where we don’t have a lot of allies that meet their commitments until year 10 or year 11.”
Defense spending will dominate the agenda when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other military leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday.
And the spending issue likely will be the centerpiece of an upcoming summit in June, where President Donald Trump and other heads of state are expected to finalize NATO’s new defense spending plans.
Trump has insisted that allies increase spending levels from 2% of GDP to 5%. Whitaker said he and other NATO diplomats are still working out what will be counted toward defense spending.
One idea that’s being looked at involves dedicating 3.5% to military forces and equipment and a further 1.5% to related infrastructure.
On Wednesday, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said defense ministers will agree Thursday to new capability targets that designate what forces and systems individual members must provide toward allied defense plans.
“Air and missile defense, long-range weapons, logistics, large land maneuver formations are among our top priorities,” Rutte said. “We need more resources, forces and capabilities so that we are prepared to face any threat, and to implement our collective defense plans in full.”
Delivering on those new capability targets will require a budgetary boost, he added.
“We have to go further, and we have to go faster, so we will discuss the urgent need to increase defense spending,” Rutte said.
Whitaker said he expects all members to be on board with the 5% plan when Trump and other heads of state meet in the Dutch city of The Hague in June.
He didn’t say what the consequences would be should any ally veto the 5% plan. In NATO, unanimous consensus is required to make decisions.
Whitaker said the security environment in Europe demands faster action.
“As the Russia-Ukraine conflict grinds on, Moscow is already preparing for its next move,” Whitaker said, adding that the Kremlin is rebuilding its military. “NATO allies must outpace Russia.”
