Many European countries are facing budget crunches and are struggling to reach even the 2 percent goal.
Germany is scrambling to figure out a way to get to 2 percent again this year, France is trying to figure out how to keep increasing defense spending as the country’s budget process is derailed by political uncertainty, the U.K. has not set a clear timeline for reaching its target of 2.5 percent.
The Czech government said this week it would hit 2 percent for the first time ever, while norway only recently got to 2.1 percent.
Other big European countries like Italy and spain are well below 2 percent.
In Germany, foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner, with the ruling Social Democrats, called Trump’s demand “complete madness,” adding that such a ramp-up will require parliamentary approval.
Even though the U.S. isn’t the biggest spender in terms of percentage of GDP, the size of the U.S. economy means that Washington carries more of the load in NATO than other countries.
