Trump says Nato pledge on defence is 'big win'

Donald Trump yesterday said Nato's decision to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP was a "big win" for western civilisation in a digressive press conference at a summit in The Hague where he reaffirmed the US's commitment to the military alliance.

- Dan Sabbagh

There was every sign that the careful setup of the summit - in which most allies in Europe and Canada committed billions more on defence - had worked to keep Trump bound to the alliance. The US president praised Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte, as well as his "beautiful" night's sleep in the Dutch king's palace on Tuesday.

Though Trump took issue with Spain for refusing to meet the 5% spending pledge, and criticised CNN and the New York Times for reporting that Iran's nuclear sites may not have been destroyed by US bombing, the president's overall tone was decidedly pro-Nato.

"When I came here, I came here because it was something I'm supposed to be doing, but I left here a little bit different," Trump said at the end of the summit. "I watched the heads of these countries get up, and the love and the passion that they showed for their country was unbelievable." The president described the summit as "a very historic milestone" in which Nato allies committed to increase their defence spending to 5% of GDP. It was, he said, "something that no one really thought possible.

And they said, 'You did it, sir, you did it'. Well, I don't know if I did it... but I think I did." Though the headline commitment is for Nato members to commit to lifting defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035, it will consist of 3.5% in core military spending and the rest in infrastructure, intelligence, cybersecurity and other spending. It means a real terms increase of about £30bn in the UK after 2027.