On Tuesday 7 January, US President-elect Donald Trump said that NATO member countries should spend 5% of their GDP on defence.
While the Allies have pledged to spend at least 2%, the Alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, believes that more should be spent and the subject could be discussed at the summit in The Hague in June 2025 (see EUROPE 13544/14).
The Allies “can all afford it. But they should be at 5%, not 2%”, Mr Trump explained at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago. No Ally is spending 5%, and the United States is expected to spend 3.38% in 2025. “We have a thing called the ocean between us, right? Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more than Europe?”, he asked.
During the election campaign, Mr Trump warned that the United States might not come to the aid of Allies who did not spend enough on their defence. In recent days, he has also threatened the territorial integrity of several Allies, underlining his ambitions for the Danish territory of Greenland, by force if necessary, and threatening to use “economic force” against Canada.
Asked about Greenland, the European Commission reiterated the importance of respecting territorial integrity but also said that it would work towards strong transatlantic relations. The Commission also specified that Article 42.7 TEU, the mutual defence clause, would apply to Greenland, if Denmark so requested. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)