Trump: “NATO member countries should spend ‘5% of their GDP’ on defense… the U.S. is an exception.”

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on the 20th (local time) that NATO member countries should spend around 5% of their GDP on defense, but added that the United States would be an exception.

Speaking to reporters before departing from Washington, D.C. to New Jersey, Trump was asked whether he expected NATO countries to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. He replied, “I think they (NATO members excluding the U.S.) should,” and added, “I don’t think we (the U.S.) need to do the same.”

He continued, “We’ve supported NATO for a long time,” claiming that “in many cases, we’ve paid almost 100% of the costs,” pointing to what he sees as European NATO members’ “free-riding” on security.

As of last year, the U.S. spent about 3.4% of its GDP on defense.

Trump plans to demand that NATO member countries commit to spending 5% of their GDP on defense at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, scheduled for June 24–25.

Regarding the ongoing military conflict between Israel and Iran, now more than a week long, Trump stated, “Israel is doing well, and Iran is doing less well.”

While he said he could support a “ceasefire” between Israel and Iran, he noted, “It’s a little hard to make someone stop (attacking).”

Trump also referred to the two-week deadline he set the previous day for deciding whether the U.S. would join Israel’s attacks on Iran, describing that timeframe as the “maximum limit,” and urged Iran to make a decision to abandon its nuclear development.

He further revealed that the U.S. has been in dialogue with Iran, but downplayed the significance of the June 20 talks in Geneva between Iran and European countries, stating that “Iran does not want to talk to Europe,” and thus the negotiations were not helpful.