Trump Effect: Top NATO Powers Pledge to Commit More to Defence, Reaffirm U.S. Alliance

Europe’s top NATO members are ready to take greater responsibility for the continent’s security while standing with the U.S. as an “indispensable ally,” the organization declared Tuesday.

The public affirmation came after defence ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain (the E5 group) met for talks in Paris, stating “Europe must assume greater responsibility for its own security,” FRANCE24 reports.

A joint statement made plain the shared view of the future of NATO from a European perspective in response to President Donald Trump’s previous calls for more defence spending and shared responsibility aside from a constant reliance on Washington:

We are determined to work in close coordination with the United States and all Allies in order to implement this concrete ambition.

The United States is and will remain an indispensable Ally, and continued United States engagement in European security is essential to a strong and credible NATO.

The FRANCE24 report set out French minister Catherine Vautrin’s revelation the key five countries will together work towards “a stronger Europe within an equally stronger NATO” through a coordinated plan developed in “full transparency” with Washington.

European foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who took part in the meeting, said: “We must continue to modernise our forces and capabilities to build a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO.”

The NATO embrace of the U.S. comes after Washington announced in April it plans to withdraw around 5,000 troops from Germany, roughly 15 percent of the 36,000 stationed there.

The Pentagon said at the time this withdrawal would take place over the coming six to 12 months.

That move came just weeks after Trump had dismissed the alliance, as Breitbart News reported.

“I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said.

The United States is, by far, the country that has the highest military spending of NATO countries, accounting for over one trillion U.S. dollars of the combined NATO military defense spending of 1.8 trillion dollars.

By contrast, the other 31 member states of NATO combined spent approximately $777 billion on defense, highlighting the key position the U.S. holds in the alliance.

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