Trump Will Not Permit NATO Member EU Countries To Allocate Either Their Deliveries To Ukraine Or $110 Billion EU Collective Defense Fund Towards Their Individual 2% Of GDP Defense Obligation To NATO
President Trump Will Not Permit EU Countries Who Are NATO Members To Allocate Any Of A Proposed US$110 Billion EU Collective Defense Fund To Count Towards Their Individual 2% Of GDP Defense Budget Obligation To NATO.
President Trump Will Not Permit NATO Members To Allocate Their Military Equipment Deliveries To Ukraine To Count Toward Their 2% Of GDP Defense Budget Obligation To NATO.
Donald Trump, 47th President of the United States, continues to harbor (quite public) grudges from his Trump-Pence Administration (2017-2021) towards those heads of state and heads of government of the thirty-two (32) members of the Brussels, Belgium-based North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) who are not spending at least 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on annual defense expenditures.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): United States, United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia, Hungary, Spain, Turkiye, Latvia, North Macedonia, Sweden.
In 2024, twenty-three (23) of the thirty-two NATO member countries spent at least 2% on defense. Countries spending less than 2% included Belgium, Canada, Italy, and Spain. President Trump has suggested increasing the minimum annual NATO member defense expenditure to 5% of GDP. Some governments will not do that.
United States defense spending was approximately US$895 billion for 2024. United States GDP in 2024 was approximately US$29.3 trillion- meaning 5% spending annually on defense would be approximately US$1.4 trillion. Total United States government spending was approximately US$6.7 trillion in 2024.
The Trump-Vance Administration (2025-2029) now confronts what it believes are two newly creative avoidance schemes to not only avoid having individual country taxpayers responsible for the annual defense spending by each NATO member, but to adopt “fake math” to obtain credit for spending.
First, some NATO members want to obtain credit (including retroactive credit) against the 2% annual defense spending obligation for their contributions since 24 February 2022, directly or indirectly, to Ukraine.
On 24 February 2022, the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded and further invaded the territory of Ukraine in what Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation (2000-2008 and 2012- ), defined as a Special Military Operation [SMO] then on 22 December 2022 he redefined as a war. The initial invasion of Ukraine by the armed forces of the Russian Federation was in part from the territory of Belarus.
The war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine did not commence on 24 February 2022. The roots began their trajectories on 20 February 2014 when the armed forces of the Russian Federation invaded the Crimean Peninsula and the area known as the Donbas Region (Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast).
Any NATO member attempting to add support to Ukraine as a component of their overall defense spending to comply with the 2% defense spending mandate by NATO- or 2.5% and 5% potential annual defense spending mandate will not be persuasive to President Trump as he knows the goal for countries is to lessen overall their defense spending and deliveries to Ukraine- as lack of a military conflict with the Russian Federation should negate it. The Peace Dividend.
Second, is an effort by the twenty-seven member Brussels, Belgium-based European Union (EU) to create a “defense fund” of €100 billion (approximately US$110 billion). Unknown if this effort will be for an annual budgetary allocation or a one-time allocation for a fixed period. The Brussels, Belgium-based European Commission (EC) believes an additional €500 billion (approximately US$550 billion) in defense will be required to 2035.
From the perspective of the Trump-Vance Administration, 85% of members of the EU who are members of NATO would have their defense spending subsidized to the determent of United States taxpayers.
European Union (EU): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden.
85%, twenty-three of the twenty-seven, members of the EU are members of NATO: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta are not NATO members.
In 2024, according to the EC, EU members spent an average of approximately 1.9% of GDP on defence, or approximately €326 billion (approximately US$335 billion) representing an increase of approximately 30% since 2021.
Ukraine Business News (4 February 2025): “Greece calls on the EU to establish a €100B fund for its defense. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while preparing for a new EU defense strategy, has proposed creating a fund of at least €100B for the EU's overall defense budget. Mitsotakis' proposal follows a week after Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Poland prepared a document urging the bloc to jointly raise €100B. They warned that Russia has already begun to bolster its military and is producing 200% more artillery than Europe and the US combined. "If our union wants to remain a pillar of peace and stability, we must establish a cohesive and reliable deterrent. We must not waste time," Mitsotakis said. The European Commission estimates that an additional €500B investment in defense will be required over the next decade. The Greek Prime Minister believes that this is not only a necessity but also an opportunity to ensure European strategic autonomy. However, this requires collective action on two fronts: securing a stable financing model for increased defense spending and implementing changes in Europe's defense industry.”
President-elect Trump’s message to the thirty-two NATO members and twenty-seven members of the EU is if they want to continue providing commercial, defense, economic, financial, and political support so the government of Ukraine may continue to engage in combat against the government of the Russian Federation, rather than focus on obtaining a cease fire, then they should pay for it.
Despite statements to the contrary by leadership within NATO, EU, and government of Ukraine, President Trump does view the Russian Federation-Ukraine war as a manageable regional conflict.
