According to NBC News, citing three current and former senior U.S. officials and a member of Congress, the idea revolves around adjusting U.S. involvement in NATO to focus more on Alliance members that meet a specific threshold for defense spending as a percentage of their GDP.
The officials revealed that Trump has discussed with his advisors the possibility of revising U.S. involvement in the alliance, suggesting that the U.S. might not defend a NATO member under attack if that country has failed to meet the required defense spending levels. This potential change would be a major departure from NATO’s core principle, Article 5, which commits all members to collective defense in the event of an attack on any member nation.
Additionally, the officials noted that Trump is considering changes to prioritize military exercises with NATO countries that have met the defense spending criteria. His administration has already hinted to European allies that the U.S. may scale back its military presence in Europe. One option under consideration is redeploying U.S. troops to focus more on NATO countries, or those that have increased their defense spending to meet the set GDP threshold.
When asked about these possible shifts in U.S. policy toward NATO, a National Security Council spokesperson responded in writing: “President Trump is committed to NATO and Article 5.”
Trump has been vocal about his criticism of NATO member countries for not meeting the target of spending 2% of their GDP on defense, arguing that the current imbalance is unfair and places an excessive burden on the U.S.
