From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
US envoy warns some NATO allies ‘lagging’ on Trump spending vow
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The US ambassador to NATO warns that some European countries are not doing enough to fulfill a defense spending pledge, ahead of a summit in Ankara with US President Donald Trump.
Under pressure from Trump, NATO leaders agreed at a gathering last year in The Hague to boost defense-related spending to five percent of GDP by 2035.
“Some allies are doing more than others — and we have countries like Poland, the Nordic countries, the Baltics and Germany leading the way,” US envoy Matthew Whitaker tells journalists.
“But we have some that are lagging behind, that either are not spending enough right now or don’t have a credible path to get to The Hague defense commitment.”
Whitaker says Trump “fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to five percent and do it with urgency.”
The NATO summit in Turkey comes after Trump lashed out at European allies over their response to his war in Iran.
Whitaker says he believes the bad blood is behind the alliance, claiming that “those days are past us.”
He points to Spain for having “disappointed” Trump over Iran and for its “unwillingness to demonstrate a credible path to five percent.”
But he says that he does not expect a bust-up at the summit between Trump and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
As defense spending rises across the alliance, Whitaker says that Europe must now show it is turning the increased cash into real capabilities.
“The goal is clear — continue shifting the burden for the conventional defense of Europe to our allies in NATO,” he says. “The United States is not going anywhere, but we have responsibilities globally.”
Bolstering the defense industries on both sides of the Atlantic will be a major focus of the upcoming gathering.
Whitaker says the United States welcomed EU efforts to increase production, but warned against the continent putting up barriers for US firms.
“We certainly do not support the protectionist language that oftentimes many of the European defense initiatives have included that would cut out allies,” he says. “That’s one area that may come up during the summit and we expect that we can come to some agreement on that challenge.”
The Times of Israel Community.