U.S. President Donald Trump secured a major political win at the NATO Summit in the Netherlands, as alliance leaders agreed to boost defense spending in line with his demands.

During a press conference following the summit, Trump declared, “We scored a major victory here.” He further suggested that the increased funds should preferably be used to purchase American-made military equipment.

Trump also reaffirmed his commitment to NATO’s Article 5, which underlines the principle of collective defense.

“I support it. That’s why I’m here. If I didn’t support it, I wouldn’t be here,” he said in response to doubts about his dedication to the article, according to a Reuters report on Thursday (June 26, 2025).

Nonetheless, Trump did not hesitate to warn Spain, threatening stricter trade terms after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stated that his country would not meet the new defense spending goal of 5% of GDP.

“I think it’s terrible. They (Spain) are doing very well economically… But that economy could collapse if something bad happens,” Trump remarked.

This year’s NATO Summit was marked by Trump’s signature hardline, transactional, and results-driven approach. French President Emmanuel Macron voiced concern, pointing out that Trump’s threat of high tariffs hindered defense budget increases.

“We can’t say we’ll spend more while simultaneously launching a trade war within NATO,” Macron criticized.

However, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump, stating that the U.S. president deserved “full credit” for the agreement reached. “We are now a stronger, fairer, and more lethal alliance,” Rutte asserted.

The new defense spending targets are ambitious—3.5% of GDP allocated for core defense and another 1.5% for supporting security, including cybersecurity and infrastructure. Though set to be achieved over the next decade, the increase imposes a heavy burden, especially on European nations under fiscal strain.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was only invited to an informal dinner and did not take part in the main summit sessions, although he did hold a separate meeting with Trump.

From Moscow, the Kremlin accused NATO of heading down a path of uncontrolled militarization and claimed that Russia was being demonized as a “hellish enemy” to justify the alliance’s budget hikes.