NATO commits to 5% defense floor after Trump pushes allies to step up

President Donald Trump heads home from the NATO summit in the Netherlands touting a slew of international successes, including the member nations committing to more than doubling their defense spending.

In addition, Trump is taking a victory lap after Israeli officials supported Trump’s claim that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s key nuclear sites, following media reports disputing the overall success.

NATO partners, comprised of 32 member nations, agreed to Trump’s demands that the countries increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP. The proposal initially had been met with resistance, given that the current spending threshold is 2%.

However, in recognition of Russian aggression and terrorism threats on member nations, the leaders agreed to increase their spending by 2035 substantially.

“United in the face of profound security threats and challenges, in particular the long-term threat posed by Russia to Euro-Atlantic security and the persistent threat of terrorism, Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035 to ensure our individual and collective obligations, in accordance with Article 3 of the Washington Treaty,” according to a statement signed by the member nations.

The member nations say the 5% spending “commitment will comprise two essential categories.”

“Allies will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP annually based on the agreed definition of NATO defence expenditure by 2035 to resource core defence requirements, and to meet the NATO Capability Targets. Allies agree to submit annual plans showing a credible, incremental path to reach this goal. And Allies will account for up to 1.5% of GDP annually to inter alia protect our critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base,” the statement said. “The trajectory and balance of spending under this plan will be reviewed in 2029, in light of the strategic environment and updated Capability Targets.”

The member nations also underscored their commitment to supporting Ukraine, a non-member nation, from continued Russian aggression.

Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the summit. This was the second time the leaders had met since their publicly contentious meeting in the Oval Office in February.

The meeting was reported to be friendly, with the Ukrainian leader praising Trump for leading a “successful operation” in Iran.

Zelenskyy said the pair discussed the embattled Eastern European country’s plan to purchase military equipment from the U.S.

“We discussed the protection of our people with the President – first and foremost, the purchase of American air defense systems to shield our cities, our people, churches, and infrastructure. Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers. Europe can help. We also discussed the potential co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other,” Zelenskyy posted to X Wednesday afternoon.

Trump characterized the meeting as “good,” adding that Zelenskyy “couldn’t have been nicer.”

The president stressed his commitment to ending the war between Ukraine and Russia, adding that he would be talking to Vladimir Putin.

“I think [Zelenskyy would] like to see an end to this… I think it’s a great time to end it. I’m going to speak to Vladmir Putin; see if we can get it ended,” Trump told reporters.

The president also addressed many questions concerning Iran, strongly disputing what he is characterizing as “fake news” reports that the U.S. airstrikes did minimal damage to the nuclear facilities.

“We’ve collected additional intelligence and we’ve also spoken to people who have seen this site – and the site is obliterated,” Trump told reporters.

The president shared a letter from the Atomic Energy Commission of Israel that described the strike as “devastating,” adding that strikes on Fordow “destroyed the site’s critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility totally inoperable.”

Trump added that he would be speaking with Iranian officials next week on the next steps for the Islamic Republic.

Sarah Roderick-Fitch

Regional Editor

Related Topics:#TheCenterSquare DefenseSpendingNATO NATO5%SpendingFloor SarahRoderickFitch TrumpNATO

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NATO commits to 5% defense floor after Trump pushes allies to step up

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How Much Dollar Value Does Our Military Deliver?

Published on June 22, 2025

Todayville

David Clinton's avatar David Clinton

To my great surprise I recently noticed that, despite being deeply engaged in wars against at least four determined enemies, Israel doesn’t spend all that much more on their military than Canada does on its forces. What might that tell us about government efficiency?

There’s fairly universal agreement that Canada doesn’t spend enough on its military. But before we can even ask how much we should be spending, we should understand how much we’re already spending. And figuring that out isn’t nearly as easy as I’d expected.

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According to the 2025–26 Expenditures by Purpose data released by the Treasury Board Secretariat, the Department of National Defence (DND) was allocated $35.7 billion (CAN). However, the New York Times recently reported that Primer Minister Carney’s $9.3 billion increase would bring the total defence-related spending to $62.7 billion – which suggests that, prior to the increase, we were set to spend $53.4 billion (CAN).

So I’ll work with both of those figures: $35.7 billion ($26 billion USD) and the pre-announcement $53.4 billion ($39 billion USD). By contrast, Israel currently spends around $37 billion (USD) on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) which is in the neighborhood of 18 percent of their total budget.¹ The IDF is (literally) getting a much bigger bang for their buck.²

I’m going to compare the military inventories of both countries to get a sense of what a dollar of government spending can get you. I understand that this isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison and there are many complicating factors here. But I think the exercise could lead us to some useful insights. First off, here’s a very rough estimate of existing inventories:

I’m sure there are plenty of caveats we could apply to those numbers, including how much of that equipment is actually fit for service on any given day. But they’ll have to do.

In addition, there are currently 68,000 regular troops in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) along with 22,500 reserves, while the IDF employs 169,500 regular troops and 465,000 reserves. They also cost money.

Based on some very rough estimates,³ I’d assess the value of IDF assets at around 2.6 times the value of comparable CAF assets. That means that the IDF – using their procurement systems – would need to spend just $14.4 billion (USD) to purchase the equivalent of the current set of CAF assets.

Now compare that with our actual (pre-increase) expenditures of either $26 billion USD or $39 billion USD and it seems that we’re overspending by either 80 percent or 270 percent.

I think we’d be wise to wonder why that is.

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For full context, Israel receives around $3.8 billion (USD) in military aid annually from the U.S.

Speaking of which, for simplicity, I completely left the ongoing costs of ordinance out of my calculations.

If you’re really interested, you can see my calculations here.

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armed forces

Trump rebuilds the ranks: Army crushes 2025 recruitment goal early

Published on June 3, 2025

Todayville

MxM News

Quick Hit:

The Army has already exceeded its 2025 recruiting goal of 61,000 troops—four months ahead of schedule—as the Trump administration’s rollback of woke policies draws thousands back to military service.

Key Details:

The Army’s 2025 recruiting goal was 61,000—higher than last year’s 55,000—and has already been met with more than four months remaining in the fiscal year. Officials report a 56% increase in average daily enlistment rates over last year.
Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll thanked Trump and Hegseth, saying their “decisive leadership” and “putting soldiers first” contributed to the record-breaking numbers.
Hegseth has aggressively pushed to eliminate leftist cultural initiatives in the military, including moves to administratively separate transgender troops and rename a Navy ship previously dedicated to gay rights icon Harvey Milk.

Diving Deeper:

The U.S. Army has reached a major milestone ahead of schedule—signing up 61,000 new recruits in fiscal year 2025, effectively smashing its annual goal months before the September 30th deadline. The achievement marks a dramatic shift after years of underperformance and is being touted as a vindication of the Trump administration’s efforts to reorient the military away from progressive social engineering and back toward warfighting readiness.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed Tuesday, Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll praised the recruiting corps, attributing their success to both boots-on-the-ground determination and high-level support. “I’m incredibly proud of our U.S. Army recruiters and drill sergeants,” he said. “Their colossal efforts and dedication to duty helped the U.S. Army accomplish our FY25 annual recruiting goal a full four months ahead of schedule.” Driscoll continued, “I want to thank the commander in chief, President Trump, and Secretary of Defense Hegseth for their decisive leadership and support.”

The Army’s target of 61,000 recruits was a notable jump from last year’s 55,000 goal. Officials say that as of this month, daily enlistment figures are tracking 56% higher than the previous year.

Driving the increase, many believe, is the sweeping overhaul of military culture underway under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hegseth has made no secret of his intent to steer the armed forces away from what he calls “woke and weak” policies. That includes the Pentagon’s past focus on gender identity politics, climate initiatives, and mandatory diversity training—priorities Hegseth sees as incompatible with combat readiness.

“We are leaving wokeness and weakness behind,” Hegseth declared during remarks last month at the Special Operations Forces Week convention in Tampa. “No more pronouns, no more climate change obsession, no more emergency vaccine mandates. No more dudes in dresses. We’re done with that s***.”

Hegseth emphasized a military rooted in “lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness,” and added pointedly, “Our combat formations don’t need to look like Harvard University—they need to look like killers.”

In line with that shift, Hegseth also this week ordered the Navy to remove Harvey Milk’s name from a replenishment ship. The vessel had been named in honor of Milk, a gay rights activist and former Navy officer who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977 before being assassinated a year later.

The directive aligns with what Hegseth calls “warrior culture” and the broader mission to reflect Trump administration priorities across the military’s assets and institutions. The Pentagon has yet to confirm a new name for the USNS Harvey Milk, and a spokesperson said reviews are ongoing.

The Army is set to mark its 250th anniversary on June 14th—a symbolic moment, officials say, as it reclaims its footing and begins to rebuild the force from a position of strength.