June 25 (UPI) -- U.S. President Donald Trump reassured NATO allies Wednesday that the United States was fully committed to the defense alliance's so-called Article 5 under which members pledge to come to the military defense of any NATO country that is attacked.
"We're with them all the way," Trump told a joint briefing with Secretary General Mark Rutte at a NATO summit in The Hague, responding to a question on his commitment to NATO and the mutual defense pact at its heart.
Trump added that he was happy to commit because other members of the 32-country alliance had heeded his long-standing call to ramp up their defense budgets and would now meet his demand that they spend 5% of GDP on defense.
"If you look at the numbers, I've been asking them to go up to 5% for a number of years and they're going up to 5%. That's a big jump from 2% and a lot of people didn't even pay the 2%, so I think it's going to be very big news. NATO is going to become very strong with us and I appreciate doing it," he said.
Earlier, Trump sparked consternation after comments made mid-Atlantic aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that his commitment to Article 5 "depends on your definition."
