NATO said Thursday all member states are on track this year to meet the alliance’s longtime defense spending target of 2% of GDP, as they prepare for a more ambitious goal.
The 32-nation military alliance agreed at a June summit in the Hague to massively hike defense spending over the next decade under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The mercurial U.S. leader rammed through a commitment from allies to cough up 5% of their GDPs on security-related spending in a move seen as key to keeping him engaged with NATO.
That headline figure breaks down as 3.5% on core defense spending and 1.5% on a broader range of areas such as infrastructure and cybersecurity.
The new target replaces the alliance's former military spending goal of 2% that was first set back in 2014.
