NATO allies endorse Trump's demand for a 5% of GDP defense spending target

Ahead of the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, most NATO members endorsed a new target to spend 5% of GDP annually on defense and related security needs, aligning with Trump's publicly stated demand for a steep increase from the long-standing 2% benchmark. The push was framed as burden-sharing, but critics warned the approach treated collective defense as transactional leverage and intensified fears Trump would condition U.S. protection on political compliance.