Rubio says NATO members will agree to 5% defense spending over next decade by June summit
Posted: 19th May 2025
By Reuters
May 16, 20252:51 AM GMT+1Updated 11 hours ago
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the members of press, following NATO foreign ministers’ informal meeting, in Antalya, Turkey May 15, 2025. REUTERS/Umit Bektas/Pool Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that all NATO members will have agreed on a goal of spending the equivalent to 5% of GDP on defense over the next decade by the 2025 NATO Summit in June.
He made the comments while appearing on Fox News’ “Hannity.”
The Reuters Tariff Watch newsletter is your daily guide to the latest global trade and tariff news. Sign up here.
U.S. President Donald Trump cut defence funding to NATO during the latter part of his first term in 2017-21, and has frequently complained that the U.S. is paying more than its fair share.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
“I can tell you that we are headed for a summit in six weeks, in which virtually every member of NATO will be at or above 2% but more importantly, many of them will be over 4% and all will have agreed on the goal of reaching 5% over the next decade,” said Rubio.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said this week that Berlin backed a demand by Trump for members of the defence alliance to increase defence spending to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Germany in January said it met NATO’s target of spending 2% of its GDP on defence in 2024.
The 2025 NATO Summit will be held in the Netherlands from June 24-25.
Reporting by Costas Pitas; Writing by Jasper Ward; Editing by Michael Perry