Trump Says US Spent $999 Billion On NATO, Allies Much Lower: How Accurate Is The Claim?

Last Updated:July 03, 2026, 16:57 IST

Trump listed the defence spending of the United Kingdom at USD 90.5 billion, France at USD 66.5 billion, Italy at USD 48.8 billion, and Poland at USD 44.3 billion.

Trump Blasts NATO: US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of NATO allies over their military budgets, claiming the United States spent USD 999 billion “to protect" the alliance between 2014 and 2025 while receiving little in return.

In a post on Truth Social, the US President said that it is “ridiculous" for the United States to continue its “one sided" relationship with NATO, less than a week before a NATO summit in Ankara. He lambasted the current financial arrangements, characterising the uneven distribution of costs as highly unfair.

“The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing," Trump wrote, further labelling the defence burden as “ridiculous."

Providing a comparative breakdown of alliance contributions, Trump detailed the expenditures of major European powers.

He listed the defence spending of the United Kingdom at USD 90.5 billion, France at USD 66.5 billion, Italy at USD 48.8 billion, and Poland at USD 44.3 billion.

Further, he pointed out that other key allies, including Germany, were contributing “much lower" amounts to the security alliance, though he refrained from specifying the exact source of the compiled metrics.

“They were not there for us!!!" and Washington’s relationship with NATO “is not reciprocal," he added.

How Much This Claim Is Accurate?

The United States does spend substantially more on defence than any other NATO member. The USD 999 billion figure broadly corresponds to cumulative US defence spending over the 2014-2025 period.

However, that amount is not money spent exclusively on NATO. The US defence budget finances a wide range of military activities, including homeland defence, nuclear deterrence, Indo-Pacific deployments, Middle East operations and global military readiness, in addition to commitments in Europe.

As per the report by Times of India, Trump’s comparison suggests the United States directly spends nearly USD 1 trillion on NATO while allies contribute only a fraction of that amount. NATO, however, does not assess burden-sharing based on total military spending.

Since the 2014 Wales Summit, allies have measured commitments primarily through the target of spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

On that measure, the picture has changed significantly. According to NATO estimates, all 32 member states are now at or above the 2 per cent benchmark for the first time since the pledge was adopted.

European allies and Canada also increased defence spending by about 20 per cent in real terms in 2025, taking their combined military expenditure to USD 574 billion, the largest annual increase in NATO’s history. Germany has announced a major expansion of defence spending, while Poland is on course to spend around 5 per cent of GDP, among the highest levels in the alliance.

Although NATO adopted the 2 per cent guideline in 2014, progress remained limited for years before European governments sharply increased defence budgets in response to both geopolitical tensions and pressure from Washington.

Trump is correct that the United States spends far more on defence than any other NATO member and that Washington has historically shouldered a disproportionate share of the alliance’s military burden.

However, his claim that the US spent USD 999 billion “on NATO" is misleading because it conflates overall US defence spending with NATO-specific commitments. It also overlooks the sharp increase in defence spending by European allies in recent years, with all NATO members now meeting or exceeding the alliance’s 2 per cent GDP target.

(With inputs from agencies)

About the Author

Shobhit Gupta

Shobhit Gupta is a sub-editor at News18.com and covers India and International news. He is interested in day to day political affairs in India and geopolitics. He earned his BA Journalism (Hons) degre...Read More

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