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4d ago

NATO Says All Allies Will Meet 2% Defense Target in 2025 as Push Toward 5% Intensifies

Leaders attribute the surge to Russia’s 2022 invasion under sustained U.S. pressure.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte attends the inauguration of the newly built artillery ammunition plant by German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall in Unterluess, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
FILE - A tank fires during the Steadfast Dart 2025 exercise, involving multiple nations and representing one of the largest NATO operations planned this year, at a training range in Smardan, eastern Romania, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
US President Donald Trump arrives for a press conference during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Heads of State and Government summit in The Hague on June 25, 2025.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, from left, German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, CEO Armin Papperger and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte wait for questions of journalists after the official opening a newly built artillery ammunition plant by German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall in Unterluess, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Overview

  • NATO’s latest estimates, using data with a June 3, 2025 cut-off, project all 32 members at or above 2% of GDP this year.
  • Only Poland (4.48%), Lithuania (4.00%) and Latvia (3.73%) currently exceed the 3.5% core benchmark set in June.
  • Alliance-wide defense outlays are expected to surpass about $1.5 trillion in 2025, according to the report.
  • Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed higher budgets but warned that cash must be turned into credible capabilities, saying 'Cash alone doesn't provide security.'
  • The 2035 pledge totals 5% of GDP—3.5% for core defense plus 1.5% for related resilience—with SACEUR Gen. Alexus Grynkewich vowing to hold nations to account on how funds are used.