Pentagon boss Pete Hegseth says allies must commit to massive spending increase by June summit – or risk losing US protection
The United States has ramped up pressure on Britain and other NATO allies to dramatically increase defence spending to FIVE per cent of GDP – with Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth warning the commitment must be made within weeks at a crucial summit.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels today, the former Fox News presenter turned Pentagon chief expressed confidence that allies were moving toward “near consensus” on the unprecedented spending target that would more than DOUBLE Britain’s current military budget.
“Countries in there are well exceeding 2% and we think very close, almost near consensus, on a 5% commitment to NATO,” Hegseth declared, adding ominously: “It has to happen by the summit at The Hague later this month.”
The explosive demand comes as NATO prepares for what officials describe as the most dangerous security environment since the Cold War, with Russia’s ongoing aggression and China’s growing threat creating what Hegseth called a need for “hard power that actually deters.
STARMER’S SPENDING SHAMBLES
The massive spending demand puts Prime Minister Keir Starmer in an impossible position after he has repeatedly refused to commit even to reaching 3% defence spending before the end of the decade.
While Starmer announced plans earlier this year to increase spending to 2.5% by 2027 – funded controversially by slashing foreign aid – he has only set a vague “ambition” to reach 3% sometime between 2029 and 2034, dependent on economic conditions.
Even Lithuania’s defence minister has reportedly mocked Britain’s 2.5% target as “old news,” with the Baltic state already spending 2.8% of GDP on defence last year.
Now, with Trump demanding 5% and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte backing a compromise of 3.5% on core military spending plus 1.5% on security infrastructure, Britain faces being humiliated as a defence laggard at the June 24-25 summit in The Hague.
‘YOU’VE GOT TO SPEND TO HAVE HARD POWER’
Hegseth made clear that pretty words and conference attendance aren’t enough anymore, declaring: “To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences.”
“You have got to spend to have hard power,” he emphasized. “This alliance, in a matter of weeks, will be committing to 5%: 3.5% in hard military and 1.5% in infrastructure and defence-related activities, that combination constitutes a real commitment.”
The Pentagon boss, who stunned allies in February by warning Europe not to treat America like a “sucker,” stressed that the deterrent effect “can’t just be U.S. capabilities” – a clear message that Europe must pull its weight or face American abandonment.
GERMANY STEPS UP AS BRITAIN FALLS BEHIND
In a humiliating contrast to Britain’s dithering, Germany – long criticized as NATO’s biggest defence spending laggard – has signaled it’s prepared to meet the 5% mark.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius revealed his country would need 50,000 to 60,000 additional active troops under new NATO capability targets, showing Berlin’s seriousness about meeting the challenge.
Hegseth even praised European efforts in his recent speech in Singapore, saying: “It’s hard to believe, a little bit, after some trips to Europe that I’m saying this, but thanks to President Trump, Asian allies should look to countries in Europe as a new found example. NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defence, even Germany.
UKRAINE SNUB SENDS MESSAGE
Underlining Washington’s shifting priorities, Hegseth conspicuously skipped a NATO-led meeting on Ukraine military support yesterday – the first time a US Defense Secretary has missed the gathering since it was established three years ago.
The absence was seen as another sign of American disengagement from European security concerns, with Hegseth making clear the US wants to focus on the China threat in the Indo-Pacific while Europe handles its own backyard.
“We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent, so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we’re able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation,” he stated.
TRUMP’S 5% ULTIMATUM
President Trump has repeatedly demanded the 5% target, arguing that current spending levels leave America carrying an unfair burden for European security.
With the US currently spending 3.38% of GDP on defence – accounting for a staggering 64% of total NATO expenditure – Trump’s frustration with free-riding allies has reached boiling point.
NATO officials estimate that meeting new capability targets for the weaponry needed to face the Russian threat would cost countries between 3.5 and 3.7 percent of GDP on average – still short of Trump’s demand but far beyond what most allies currently spend.
BRITAIN’S DEFENCE CRISIS
The pressure comes as Britain grapples with the smallest army since Napoleonic times, with just 70,860 full-time trained soldiers, while announcing ambitious plans including:
- Building up to 12 new nuclear-powered attack submarines
- Investing £15 billion in nuclear deterrent renewal
- Creating at least six new munitions plants
- Procuring up to 7,000 British-made long-range weapons
But without the funding to match these ambitions, critics have slammed Starmer’s defence review as an “empty wish list.
Former Defence Minister Ben Wallace called the current spending plans a “staggering desertion of leadership” and “tone deaf to dangers of the world and demands of the United States.
THE HAGUE SHOWDOWN
All eyes now turn to the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24-25, where Hegseth insists the 5% commitment must be agreed.
“We think everybody’s gonna get there,” he said, while admitting that a few countries – which he pointedly did not name – were “not quite there yet.”
With Rutte pushing his 3.5% plus 1.5% compromise and Trump demanding the full 5%, the summit threatens to become a make-or-break moment for the alliance – and for Britain’s standing within it.
As one NATO diplomat put it: “The message is clear – pay up or lose American protection. And right now, Britain looks dangerously unprepared for either option.”
Image credit: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth with UK Secretary of State for Defence John Healey, February 2025 by U.S. Department of Defense, Public Domain.
