Salts in Trump: “No, NATO member states’ defence spending not to increase to 5% of GDP”

He made statements yesterday Tuesday (07.01.2025) about NATO member states, even calling on the “plafon” to increase to 5% of their GDP, which caused Olaf Solz’s negative reaction. In particular, the German Chancellor expressed today (09.01.2025) his opposition to what Donald Trump asked of the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance for his defence spending, saying that this would mean “a lot of money” for the German budget. CORVERSE “I think it best to focus on what NATO has agreed on long ago,” he said in Focus’s online version. Today, NATO member countries must invest 2% of their GDP in military spending. According to the German chancellor’s calculations, if the target proposed by Trump was accepted, this would mean that defence spending would reach 200 billion euros annually. CORVERSE By comparison, the federal state budget for 2025 is around 490 billion euros. “ It’s a lot of money, ” Salts commented. In 2024, Germany’s defence spending first exceeded 2% of GDP , the threshold set by NATO in 2014, on the occasion of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. This is mainly due to the special fund of EUR 100 billion, introduced by Salts a few days after the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, to re-arm the country and modernise its defence instruments. REUTERS/Nadja Wohlleben After that amount has been exhausted however, Germany will have to find additional resources to maintain defence spending at 2% of its GDP. “ Germany must do more for its safety, there is no doubt. And we should ensure that in the future. It is a truly huge change, compared to the past, ” the chancellor stressed.