Nato defence spending to hit record as alliance braces for potential Trump win

Most Nato member states will hit the alliance’s defence spending target as it prepares for more Russian aggression and braces for the potential election of Donald Trump.

Eighteen of the US-led military alliance’s 31 members will meet the target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence this year, said secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday. That includes Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, for the first time.

That equates to Nato’s European members spending a combined total of $380bn on defence, a record amount. “We are making real progress . . . European allies are spending more,” said Stoltenberg.

That number is likely to rise as budgets are adjusted, according to three alliance diplomats. “Nato expects about two-thirds of allies to hit 2 per cent in 2024,” an alliance official said.

Nato’s spending rose markedly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Trump’s term in office in 2017-21 also brought a significant uptick as the US president harangued his European allies for failing to spend enough.

In 2016, only five countries met the target. Today Poland spends 3.9 per cent of GDP on defence, ahead of the US itself on 3.5 per cent. Other countries such as Spain trail behind, spending just above 1 per cent.

“We have to listen and take note of the following: the criticism that we hear [from Trump] is not primarily about Nato. It is about Nato allies not spending enough,” said Stoltenberg on Wednesday. “And that is a valid point . . . that European allies and Canada have to spend more.”

A declared Nato-sceptic and isolationist, Trump — the presumptive Republican nominee in November’s US presidential election — has previously threatened to withdraw from the military alliance that guarantees Europe’s defence and security.

His rhetoric has continued into the current race for the White House. European leaders were shocked last week when Trump told a campaign rally that he would…