Rubio Urges NATO Members To Increase Their Own Defense Spending To 5% Of GDP

Speaking at a NATO event in Brussels, Secretary of State Marco Rubio reassured NATO nations that the United States would not leave the alliance, but also warned that European nations would have to increase their own defense spending as a deterrent to outside forces.

“We want NATO to be stronger; we want NATO to be more visible, and the only way NATO can get stronger, more visible is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability,” he said.

“I understand there’s domestic politics, after decades of building up vast social safety nets that maybe don’t want to take away from that and invest more in national security,” Rubio added. “But the events of the last few years … full-scale ground war in the heart of Europe as a reminder that hard power is still necessary as a deterrent. We do want to leave here with an understanding that we are on a pathway, a realistic pathway to every single one of the members committee, and fulfilling a promise to reach up to 5% of spending.”

Rubio stated the United States would also spend 5% of its GDP on defense as well.

“The majority of the 32 NATO members currently spend 2% of their nation’s GDP per previous NATO commitments, eight nations – Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain – have yet to meet their defense spending pledges,” Fox News noted. “Only Poland spends over 4% of its GDP on defense, while four other nations spend over 3% – Estonia, the U.S., Latvia and Greece.” The United States spent 3.38% of its GDP on defense in 2024.

“As we speak right now, the United States is as active in NATO as it has ever been,” Rubio said. “Some of this hysteria and hyperbole that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted. The United States president [has] made clear: He supports NATO. We’re going to remain in NATO.”

Roughly 100,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe.