Trump issues stark new warning to NATO allies: ‘If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them’

President Donald Trump warned NATO allies on Thursday that if they don’t pay up, the U.S. won’t come to their defense if they’re attacked.

The president, since his first term, has pushed for other members of the alliance to spend 5% of their gross domestic product on defense.

Now he’s threatening to change U.S. policy when it comes to NATO’s Article Five – which states if one member is attacked, all countries in the alliance must respond – if they don’t pony up.

‘If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,’ the president told reporters in the Oval Office.

‘They have money,’ he added. ‘They should be paying more.

Such a change would send shockwaves through Europe and undermine the alliance’s founding principal.

The cornerstone Article Five has made the alliance a powerful tool to deterring outside aggression against its members. A major policy change by Trump could weaken NATO’s effectiveness. 

And that cornerstone has been the main reason Ukraine has been denied membership – to keep the other members from being drawn into its war with Russia. 

NATO was formed during the Cold War amid concern about Russian aggression.

Its decisions are made by consensus but the military strength of the United States makes it the most powerful country in the alliance, with its nuclear arsenal seen as the ultimate security guarantee. 

Trump is also considering limiting joint U.S. military exercises to NATO members that are spending the set percentage of their GDPs on defense.

The National Security Council said of the report: ‘President Trump is committed to NATO and Article V.’  

Trump first raised the idea during the 2024 presidential campaign.

At a rally in South Carolina in February, Trump recounted what he called a conversation with the ‘president of a big country’.

‘Well sir, if we don’t pay, and we’re attacked by Russia – will you protect us?’ Trump quoted the unnamed leader as asking him.

‘I said: ‘You didn’t pay? You’re delinquent?’ He said: ‘Yes, let’s say that happened.’ No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them (Russia) to do whatever the hell they want. You gotta pay,’ Trump said.

In his first term as president, Trump repeatedly argued with other leaders about their levels of defense spending; above he debates with then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel

The flags of the countries in the NATO alliance

Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO members for not meeting the current goal of spending 2% of their GDP on defense. 

And he’s fought with them to get them to increase their share, arguing there is too much of a burden on the U.S.

NATO says that 23 of the 32 members have hit the 2% mark. Most of the members are European nations, plus the United States and Canada.

Poland is the top spender on defense, allocating 4.1% of GDP. Estonia is in second place at 3.4% with the U.S. in third place at 3.4%.

NATO’s annual budget is $4.1 billion with a cost-sharing agreement in place to pay for its operations.

The three biggest contributors to the budget are the U.S. and Germany at 16% and the UK at 11%. 

During the presidential campaign, Trump said he would keep the U.S. in NATO as long as other nations paid their fair share.

‘The United States should pay its fair share, not everybody else’s fair share,’ Trump said in March 2024.

Trump flirted with the idea of pulling out of NATO on multiple occasions during his first term but ultimately stayed in the alliance.