NATO leaders want to appease Trump, but spending billions more on the defense alliance ‘would be just crazy for Europeans,’ foreign policy expert says

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding the Marine One presidential helicopter and departing the White House on June 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Credit: Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

• NATO members agreed on Sunday to increase their defense-spending goals to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035. Foreign policy experts tell Fortune the target will be met by some countries, but may not be feasible for others. The pledge, they say, is an attempt to satisfy Trump, who has long called for more spending from the bloc.

President Donald Trump prefaced his arrival to the annual summit meeting of the NATO military alliance in The Hague by telling reporters Tuesday morning, “NATO was broke, and I said, ‘You’re going to have to pay.’”