How Realistic Is NATO’s 5% Spending Goal?

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00:00NATO members, including the U.S., have confirmed a 5% spending commitment.

00:06John, how significant is this for the future of the alliance?

00:12It's significant, but it's never going to happen collectively.

00:17And that's primarily because at the current rate, which is about 2%, 2.5%,

00:23look at, let's say, an economy like Turkey, a trillion-dollar-plus economy that's approaching 2 trillion.

00:325% GDP would be $100 billion a year.

00:37Now, just like Spain, you're going to have more and more of these countries,

00:40the further away they are from the border of Russia,

00:43they're going to say that we just can't spend that money, our taxpayers won't allow it,

00:49and we need to spend that money on health care, education, infrastructure,

00:54lowering taxes, lowering fees, et cetera.

00:57So this is very aspirational.

01:00The kick-in date, 2030, 2035, not only will President Trump be out of office,

01:06he may no longer be with us.