Trump told troops of US Central Command and US Special Operations Command that other NATO member states should step up to the plate and commit to spending two percent on GDP on defense, as agreed at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales.
"We strongly support NATO; we only ask that all of the NATO members make their full and proper contributions to the NATO alliance, which many of them have not been doing — many of them have not been even close," Trump said.
However, the issue of defense spending is complex, because each European NATO member procures its military assets at national level — often favoring local industries — rather than on a Europe-wide basis, in the way the US buys on a US-wide basis.
The upshot is that — according to a report by McKinsey — Europe has 19 different armored infantry-fighting vehicles, as against only one type in the US. At sea, Europe has 29 types of destroyers and frigates, while the US has only four. Europe has 16 different types of fighter planes, against the US' six. Even battledress varies throughout Europe.
New report developed with @MunSecConf RT @McKinsey: Enlisting productivity to reinforce European #defense: http://t.co/KiHswQx7yC #EU #NATO
— McKinsey Quarterly (@McKQuarterly) August 8, 2013
The US spends 3.62 percent of GDP on defense. Only Greece, Poland, Estonia and the UK spend over the two percent required by NATO. France, Turkey, Germany and Italy are all below two percent. According to NATO statistics, the US spent an estimated US$650 billion on defense, 2015, more than double the amount all the other 27 NATO countries together despite their combined GDP being more than the US.
Secretary General @JensStoltenberg and @POTUS @realDonaldTrump speak about current challenges and #NATO Summit https://t.co/1xpyYRAeIl pic.twitter.com/4raJgsVrve
— NATO (@NATO) February 6, 2017
Defense spending in Europe has been squeezed by the drive for austerity, following the global financial crash of 2008/9. The UK finds itself with no aircraft carrier capability until the arrival of the two Queen Elizabeth class vessels in late 2017 and 2020, although they will be unable to use the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II on commission and will have to fly US aircraft initially.
Data provided by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), Military Balance 2016 shows that EU member states spent a total amount of US$217 billion on defense in 2015. Europe's 2015 defense spending corresponds to a mere 85.5 percent of pre-financial crisis levels (2007) and thus the lowest military outlays in almost a decade, according to the IISS.
