NATO Chief Admits Alliance Would Be in Tatters Without Trump.

WHAT HAPPENED: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) chief Mark Rutte acknowledged that President Donald J. Trump compelled European nations to increase defense spending.

WHO WAS INVOLVED: President Trump, NATO chief Mark Rutte, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and NATO member states.

WHEN & WHERE: Statements made at the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, Switzerland, on January 21, 2026.

KEY QUOTE: “Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened,” Rutte said of alliance members’ increased spending commitments.

IMPACT: NATO members are now expected to meet a five percent of GDP defense spending target, a significant increase from prior commitments.

NATO’s Secretary General Mark Rutte admitted U.S. President Donald J. Trump is responsible for forcing European alliance members to increase their defense spending and rely less on U.S. taxpayers for military protection. Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, the former Dutch prime minister stated, “Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened.”

“He has forced us in Europe to step up, to face the consequences that we have to take care more of our own defense,” the NATO Secretary General added. Last April, the foreign ministers of NATO member states were told they would need to raise their defense spending to five percent of their respective nations’ gross domestic product (GDP).

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated the new defense spending target during the April NATO meeting in Brussels, Belgium. “We do want to leave here with an understanding that we are on a pathway, a realistic pathway, to every single one of the members committing and fulfilling a promise to reach up to five per cent of spending,” Rubio said, adding, “No one expects that you’re going to be able to do this in one year or two. But the pathway has to be real.”

As of 2022, only seven of the NATO alliance’s 30 member states had met the original two percent of GDP military spending requirement. However, shortly after President Trump’s second inauguration in January 2025, a number of member states began announcing their intention to increase military spending to five percent.

However, not all members are committing to the five percent target. The National Pulse reported in May last year that the British government has committed to increasing defense spending to three percent of GDP by 2034, with an interim target of only 2.5 percent by April 2027.

Join Pulse+ to comment below, and receive exclusive e-mail analyses.