At this year’s NATO summit in The Hague, nearly all alliance members pledged to raise defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP over the next decade. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has long called for allies, including Taiwan, to contribute more to their own defense, hailed the agreement as a major success.
00:00U.S. President Donald Trump is back in Washington following a successful NATO summit at The Hague,
00:08where members almost unanimously agreed to raise their defense spending requirements from 2% to 5% of GDP over the next decade.
00:16And the decisions today will produce trillions more for our common defense
00:21to make us stronger and fairer by equalizing spending between America and America's allies.
00:28It's a major achievement for an administration that has called for partner countries around the world, including Taiwan,
00:35to increase defense spending rather than relying on U.S. capabilities.
00:39NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defense, even Germany.
00:46So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat.
00:57I have a different assessment with respect, Senator, about Taiwan's efforts.
01:00I think actually as a proportion of GDP, it's well below 3%.
01:03I agree with President Trump that they should be more like 10% or at least something in that ballpark.
01:07Taiwan has already said it will increase its defense spending to 3% of GDP.
01:12And some experts say NATO's decision could pave the way for Taiwan to go even higher.
01:18That certainly sets the bar for Taiwan.
01:21And I think to work with the Trump administration and their demands and their expectations,
01:28I think a roadmap like this is going to be very helpful.
01:33But this year's summit focused mostly on the recent conflict between Iran and Israel
01:42and the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
01:45NATO leaders met with and reaffirmed support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
01:51And despite previous tensions, Zelensky and Trump met on the sidelines of the summit.
01:56Trump later leaving open the possibility of further U.S. military assistance for Ukraine.
02:02They do want to have the anti-missile missiles, as they call them, the patriots.
02:09And we're going to see if we can make some available.
02:12With global tensions high, NATO's new spending target signals a shifting balance
02:17in who foots the now much bigger bill for global security.
