Donald Trump has criticised defence spending by the UK and other European allies as he ramps up the pressure ahead of a crucial Nato summit.
The US president cited national military funding figures to renew his charge that America is bankrolling the protection of other countries “without getting any benefit”, as he branded the situation “ridiculous”.
His latest sabre-rattling raises the stakes for next week’s meeting of Nato leaders in Ankara, Turkey, with Mr Trump already having cast doubt on America’s commitment to the long-standing military alliance, which he has branded “a paper tiger”.
Tensions over defence funding have been further fuelled by the president’s designs on Greenland, which belongs to fellow Nato member Denmark, and the response of allies – including Britain – to the Iran war.
Last month, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth announced a review of American military forces in Europe as he questioned if some members were meeting their spending commitments, claiming they still seemed “to think the era of free-riding is here”.
It came as Sir Keir Starmer’s plan to hike defence spending by £15 billion came under scrutiny, with Downing Street unable to say exactly where the cuts required to pay for the increase will come from, with around a third deferred to the next budget.
Even with the latest increase, former defence secretary John Healey – who quit in protest at the level of extra military funding being offered – said the UK would be spending 2.7% of economic output on defence in 2030.
He stressed the need to “develop a clear, credible funding plan” to ensure the UK met its Nato commitment to spend 3.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) on core defence by 2035.
Launching a fresh broadside at Nato on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, Mr Trump wrote: “The United States spends more money on Nato than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing: US 999 Billion Dollars, United Kingdom, 90.5 Billion Dollars, France, 66.5 Billion Dollars, Italy, 48.8 Billion Dollars, Poland, 44.3 Billion Dollars. Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER. (2014-2025) Ridiculous!”
Although indicating to the contrary, the data highlighted by the president related to defence spending estimates by Nato members in 2025 alone, where US funding stood at 980 billion dollars (£733 billion) according to official published figures, compared with the 608 billion dollars (£455 billion) of all the other members combined.
Mr Trump also appeared not to take account of funding in relation to GDP, with Poland reported to be spending 4.5% of its output on defence in 2025, far outstripping America’s 3.2%. The UK was reported as spending 2.4%, with Italy at 2%. Data was not available for Germany.
The figures also reflect total defence spending, with the military commitments of the US as a global superpower extending beyond the Nato area, including into the Indo-Pacific.
The Ministry of Defence and Nato have both been contacted for comment.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said last month the upcoming Nato summit would probably be the most important in its history, with issues “that need to be cleared up and fixed”.
One potential flashpoint was counting veterans’ pensions towards defence spending totals, which the top diplomat insisted “can’t happen”.
The head of US forces in Europe, Alexus Grynkewich, also warned at the time there had been “an unhealthy co-dependence” by Nato on American forces.
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