U.S. special envoy Matthew Whitaker warned ahead of a summit with President
Trump in Ankara that some European NATO members are not meeting defense-spending
commitments. Under U.S. pressure, NATO leaders agreed at The Hague last year to
raise defense-related spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Whitaker said Poland, the
Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Germany are leading, but several allies
are lagging either because current spending is insufficient or because they have
no credible path to meet the Hague pledge. He said Trump expects all allies to
move immediately toward the 5% target and act quickly.
