Europe to pledge higher defence spending at NATO summit after Trump demands
European nations are pledging to spend more on defence to placate US President Donald Trump at his first Nato summit since being re-elected president.
Raising the share of GDP that all Nato members spend on defence and security to 5% has been a core goal of US General Secretary Mark Rutte.
The defence and security pledge includes spending 3.5% on 'core defence' and another 1.5% on 'resilience and security'.
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to hit the target by 2035.
The leaders of the 32-nation alliance are expected to agree on the target on Wednesday.
But several nations have already said they would not reach it by the 2035 deadline, with Spain calling it "unreasonable" and Belgium and Slovakia making similar statements.
Other countries closer to the borders of Russia and Ukraine - Poland and the three Baltic countries - have committed to the goal, as have Nato's European heavyweights Britain, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
On Tuesday, Trump complained that 'there's a problem with Spain. Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly.' He has also dismissed Canada as 'a low payer'.
Although Trump has been the most vocal US president in calling for Europe to spend more on its own defence, it has long been a complaint of American leaders.
Speaking before he departed for the summit in The Hague, Trump said: "NATO was broke, and I said, 'You're going to have to pay'.
"And we did a whole thing, and now they're paying a lot. Then I said, 'You're going to have to lift it to 4% or 5%, and 5% is better'."
Spending 5% of a country's gross domestic product on defence is 'good,' Trump said, adding: 'It gives them much more power.'
Demands from the US are not the only reason Europe has been increasing spending on defence recently. Europe is also responding to the ongoing war in Ukraine and tensions in the Middle East.
In a conversation with the French and German leaders at the summit on Tuesday, Sir Keir "reflected on the volatile situation in the Middle East," according to a Downing Street spokeswoman.
The leaders agreed that 'now was the time for diplomacy and for Iran to come to the negotiating table', the spokeswoman added.
It comes as intelligence reports in the US suggested that the American attack on Iran's nuclear programme over the weekend have only set it back by a few months, rather than destroyed it as Donald Trump previously suggested.
The White House pushed back on the reports on Tuesday evening, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying it was 'flat out wrong'.
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Mr Trump also condemned the leak in a post on Truth Social, calling the US raid 'one of the most successful military strikes in history'.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sir Keir had said that the US had helped in 'alleviating' the threat of nuclear capability for Iran with their strikes on Saturday.
Asked on his visit to The Hague whether he personally felt safe with Mr Trump in the White House and why others should, the prime minister told Channel 5 News: 'Look, I think what we've seen over the last few days is the Americans alleviating a threat to nuclear weaponry by the Iranians and bringing about a ceasefire in the early hours of today.
'I think now what needs to happen is that ceasefire needs to be maintained, and that will be the focus of our attention, our engagement, our discussions, because that ceasefire provides the space for the negotiations that need to take place.'
Trump sparked concern among European defence experts on Tuesday after he brought into question article 5 of the Nato charter which commits all nations to coming to the defence of another if attacked.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that whether he is committed to Article 5 'depends on your definition.'
'There's numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?' Trump said. 'But I'm committed to being their friends.' He signalled that he would give a more precise definition of what Article 5 means to him once he is at the summit.
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