NATO allies will vote to increase their defense spending commitment to 5% of gross domestic product, more than doubling the current 2% target in what President Donald Trump called "very big news" during remarks at the White House Wednesday.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte confirmed the alliance will vote unanimously on the dramatic spending increase, which would represent the largest shift in burden-sharing since the organization's founding. The move would require European and Canadian allies to significantly boost military expenditures to match U.S. defense spending levels.
"Today we will decide to go to 5 percent," Rutte said during a joint appearance with Trump. "We have to keep ourselves safe from our adversaries, but also because it is fair to equalize with the United States."
The announcement comes as Trump praised the alliance's commitment to increased defense spending, crediting his previous presidency and current term for driving the changes. Trump said he had been "asking them to go up to 5 percent for a number of years."
"NATO's going to become very strong with us," Trump said. "I think that's going to be very big news."
Rutte attributed the spending increases directly to Trump's pressure on allies, describing three phases of escalation. He said Trump's first presidency from 2017-2021 resulted in $1 trillion in additional aggregate defense spending by Europeans and Canadians. The second phase, beginning with Trump's return to office in January, saw all allies commit to the existing 2% target established in Wales in 2014.
"Seven were not on 2%, some were saying somewhere in the 2030s," Rutte said. "Now this year, all of them, including Canada, including Italy, including Belgium, they have all now committed to the 2%."
The 5% commitment represents the third phase, which Rutte said would not burden American taxpayers further. "This is not about American taxpayers paying more. This is about Europeans, Canadians paying more," he explained.
The NATO announcement came alongside extensive discussion of what Trump described as a successful ceasefire between Iran and Israel, following what he characterized as devastating attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Trump claimed the military strikes achieved "total obliteration" of Iran's nuclear capabilities.
"We had a tremendous victory, a tremendous hit," Trump said, describing the operation as ending hostilities between the regional adversaries. "That hit ended the war."
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth provided additional details about the operation, stating that six bombs per location delivered 30,000 pounds of explosives with precision targeting. "It was devastation underneath Fordell," Hegseth said, referring to Iran's Fordow nuclear facility.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized the scope of damage, particularly to conversion facilities essential for nuclear weapons production. "The conversion facility, which you can't do a nuclear weapon without a conversion facility. You can't – we can't even find where it is, where it used to be on the map," Rubio said.
Trump disputed media reports suggesting the damage assessment was inconclusive, calling such coverage "fake news" and defending the military operation's success. He said Iranian officials who visited the site afterward "said this place is gone" and that the devastation led Iran to agree to the ceasefire.
"If it didn't, they wouldn't have settled. If they had won, if we didn't take it out, they wouldn't have settled," Trump said.
The president also confirmed he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later Wednesday to discuss ongoing difficulties in Ukraine's conflict with Russia. Trump indicated he had recent conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who "volunteered help" on Iran.
"I said, no, I don't need help on Iran. I need help on Russia," Trump recounted telling Putin. "I said, do me a favor. Help us on Russia, not on Iran."
Trump suggested progress was being made on multiple fronts, including potential developments in Gaza. He credited the Iranian operation with advancing broader Middle East peace efforts.
"I think because of this attack that we made, I think we're going to have some very good news," Trump said regarding Gaza negotiations.
The NATO spending commitment would require unprecedented peacetime defense expenditures from European allies, many of whom have struggled to meet even the 2% target established over a decade ago. The increase comes amid heightened security concerns following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and growing tensions with China.
Rutte emphasized the broader implications of American military strength demonstrated in the Iranian operation. "The signal sends to the rest of the world that this President when it comes to it, yes, he is a man of peace, but if necessary, he is willing to use strength, the enormous strength of the American military," he said.
Trump defended the Iranian operation against intelligence assessments that suggested partial rather than complete destruction of nuclear facilities. Both Hegseth and Rubio criticized leaked intelligence reports as politically motivated and inaccurate.
"This is what a leaker is telling you the intelligence says. That's the game these people play," Rubio said. "These leakers are professional stabbers."
The president said Iran would be unable to rebuild nuclear capabilities for years due to the extent of damage to underground facilities. "The whole thing is collapsed. In other words, inside, it's all collapsed. Nobody can get in to see it because it's collapsed," Trump explained.
Trump praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's role in the operation while noting Israel "got hit very hard, especially the last couple of days" before the ceasefire took effect. He said ballistic missiles "took out a lot of buildings" in Israel.
The operation included both aerial strikes and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles, according to Trump, who said 30 Tomahawks fired from 400 miles away "hit within a foot of where they were supposed to hit."
Rutte is expected to present the 5% spending proposal to NATO allies for a formal vote, which he expressed confidence would pass unanimously. The commitment would represent a fundamental shift in transatlantic burden-sharing that Trump has long advocated.
The spending increase would require parliamentary approval in many NATO countries and could face political resistance given current economic pressures and competing domestic priorities. However, the unanimous support Rutte predicted suggests extensive preliminary negotiations among alliance members.
Trump characterized the overall developments as beneficial for global stability, suggesting the combination of NATO strengthening and Middle East de-escalation represented major foreign policy achievements early in his second term.
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