National Post (National Edition)
Many NATO allies snub Trump on defence budgets
Military spending ebbs in Canada
America’s NATO allies, including Canada, are risking another bust-up with U.S. President Donald Trump after spending figures released Thursday showed little movement toward a more equitable sharing of the costs of collective defence.
The numbers sit in stark contrast with boasts Trump made at a NATO summit in July 2018, when he said America’s allies would soon fall into line on his spending demands.
Canada’s outlay dropped to 1.23 per cent from 1.41 per cent, and Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are nowhere near meeting a pledge to spend at least two per cent of their economic output on their militaries, according to North Atlantic Treaty Organization estimates for 2018. Germany, a frequent target of Trump’s criticism, spent 1.23 per cent of GDP on defence last year.
Just seven NATO members met the alliance’s guideline on defence spending, while Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg spent less than half of the target. Washington accounts for some 70 per cent of NATO’S military expenditures prompting Trump to accuse Europe on several occasions of taking advantage of the U.S.
At a July 2018 NATO summit in Brussels, Trump boasted of singlehandedly winning commitments from his fellow NATO leaders to meet and exceed spending targets of two per cent of GDP — even though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke only of continuing with Canada’s existing military plan.
“Well, they will,” Trump responded when asked how he would increase pressure on Canada, Germany and Italy if any of the three failed to meet the target. “I have no doubt about it. They all made commitments and they will be up to two per cent. It will be over a relatively short period of years.”
At that summit Trudeau was pressed to provide more details about the U.S. president’s sudden insistence that allies had agreed to spend more — and to do it more quickly.
Trudeau said he did agree to uphold Canada’s commitment to the 2014 Wales NATO summit pledge on defence investment, but said the declaration technically states NATO allies would merely “aim to move towards” the two per cent guideline within a decade.
Now, the new figures reveal just how far off Trump’s bravado was, and he has responded by once more calling out the U.S.'S allies.
“Wealthy, wealthy countries that we’re protecting are all under notice,” Trump said in a speech at the Pentagon on Jan. 17. “We cannot be the fools for others.”
Meanwhile the alliance itself sought to put a positive spin on the numbers, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pointing out that spending cuts of previous years have now been reversed.
“Germany has made it clear that it will increase defence budgets by 80 per cent by 2024,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels, while praising Berlin’s contribution to allied missions.
The U.S. administration is drawing up demands that Germany, Japan and eventually all of its allies pay the full cost for American soldiers deployed on their soil, with 50 per cent on top for the privilege of hosting them, according to officials briefed on the matter. In some cases, nations could be asked to pay five to six times as much as they do now under the “Cost Plus 50” formula.
The president’s team sees the move as a way to prod NATO partners into accelerating increases in defence spending.
Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on Thursday that the reported “Cost Plus 50” plan hasn’t been discussed at NATO. While he refused to comment on the substance, he noted that the U.S presence in Europe is also important for American security.
“It’s about protecting Europe, but it’s also about projecting power beyond Europe,” he said.