German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen | Adam Berry/Getty Images German defense minister strikes back on NATO spending target Ursula von der Leyen points to troop deployment and increased spending ahead of alliance summit.

BERLIN — Germany contributes its fair share to NATO and is moving to increase its military spending, Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said following fresh criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Speaking to reporters in Berlin ahead of a NATO summit next week, von der Leyen pushed back against the criticism by Trump, pointing to Germany’s broader contributions as the second-largest provider of troops to NATO operations and its willingness to take on a leading role in defense of the Baltics.

The German government has said it expects to move closer to NATO's target of 2 percent of gross domestic product going toward military spending, including a 30 percent rise expected for 2019. NATO allies committed at a leaders' summit to work toward the goal by 2024.

Trump has berated allies for not ramping up their spending faster, though he often seems not to understand that the figures in question refer to spending by each allied nation on its own military — not contributions to NATO's central budget, which is fully paid in accordance with a separate formula.

Current projections would see Germany's military spending under the GDP formula rise to 1.5 percent in 2024 from 1.2 percent today, von der Leyen said.

She also reiterated that the crucial point was not to spend more money, but to spend it well — in support of the alliance's goals.

"You can easily spend 2 percent of your national gross domestic product on defense while at the same time not providing anything to NATO, not participating in missions," von der Leyen said.

Trump has repeatedly said Germany should step up to meet the 2 percent target and reports in recent weeks have suggested that the American president is also looking at removing some of the 35,000 troops it has deployed in Germany. The headquarters of the U.S. military's European Command, as well as its Africa Command, are both located in Germany.

Trump also sent a letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel and other NATO leaders this week calling for more spending.

But officials in Berlin have dismissed the prospect of a mass withdrawal of U.S. forces, and they have noted that the EU's own defense efforts, reflected in the 25-country Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) initiative launched last year, will complement NATO, but not fall under its chain of command.

Von der Leyen said that European nations had their own security priorities best served by PESCO.

“It is in our interest and our firm conviction that Europe has certain tasks, certain problems it has to solve alone,” von der Leyen said. “It is also in the interest of all of us in NATO that there is a strong European pillar in NATO, and so we are working in that sense.”