President Donald Trump has long grumbled that only a few NATO member states meet the alliance's agreed-upon target of spending 2 percent of their respective gross domestic products on defense. | Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP Photo Trump suggests NATO allies should double defense spending target to 4 percent

President Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that NATO nations double the amount of their gross domestic product that they spend on defense, furthering his long-running complaint that the U.S. carries too much of the organization’s mutual defense burden.

“During the President’s remarks today at the NATO summit he suggested that countries not only meet their commitment of 2 percent of their GDP on defense spending, but that they increase it to 4 percent. The President raised this same issue when he was at NATO last year,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.


Many experts consider the 4 percent figure impractical, and say that a serious effort to enforce it could break up the alliance. But Trump's comments, made behind closed doors at a meeting of NATO leaders, do not appear to represent an official U.S. position. Instead they seem more likely a negotiation tactic from a president pressuring European nations to pay more for a collective defense pact that Trump feels is too dependent on Washington's largesse. Trump has long grumbled that only a few NATO member states meet the alliance's agreed-upon target of spending 2 percent of their respective gross domestic products on defense.

“President Trump wants to see our allies share more of the burden and at a very minimum meet their already stated obligations,” Sanders added.

A NATO official in Brussels, recalling Trump’s remark at Wednesday’s meeting, said the U.S. president had been half-joking, saying something to the effect of “I know I should ask you for the 4 percent but I ask you only for the 2.”

In a tweet soon after, Trump lashed out at the alliance, asking: "Why are there only 5 out of 29 countries that have met their commitment? The U.S. is paying for Europe’s protection, then loses billions on Trade. Must pay 2% of GDP IMMEDIATELY, not by 2025.”

While Trump claimed earlier this week that the U.S. spends 4 percent of its GDP on defense, that is not the case. America spent 3.57 percent of its GDP on defense last year, according to NATO—a figure projected to fall to 3.5 percent this year. The U.S. has not spend 4 percent of its GDP on defense since 2013, per NATO.

The suggestion that NATO nations more than double their defense spending is also nothing new for Trump, who issued a similar call last May when NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the White House.

“We’re still waiting on 20 member states to meet their NATO commitments and spend at least 2 percent on defense. And 2 percent is a very low number. The number really should be 4 percent,” Trump said at the time.

Jacopo Barigazzi contributed to this report.