“You haven’t paid? Are you bad payers? (…) No, I would not protect you. In fact, I will encourage [the Russians] to do whatever they want. » This statement by Donald Trump during an electoral rally in South Carolina, Saturday February 10, aroused strong reactions, because it calls into question the principle of solidarity between the member states of the Treaty Organization. North Atlantic (NATO).
This charge by the candidate in the Republican primary against American allies is not new: during his presidency (2017-2021), Donald Trump already criticized a supposed imbalance between the allies on the financing of the Atlantic Alliance. But by talking about “bad payers” and “countries [which] have owed us a huge amount of money for years”, the former president is creating confusion.
Indeed, there is no question here of the direct financing of NATO: the budget of 3.8 billion euros (for 2024), which ensures the functioning of the organization and its military commands, is supplemented by contributions from its members, in proportion to their budgetary capacities and their military needs. This point does not really pose a problem.
The 2% of GDP, a rule introduced in 2006
Donald Trump's criticisms are actually referring to NATO's indirect funding, which is much more important. As the Alliance does not have armed forces, it is its members who provide the organization with the troops and equipment necessary for operations, on a voluntary basis. It is therefore the defense capabilities of each country that are called upon to contribute to the capacity of the organization.
To measure this effort, it is customary to reduce the annual defense expenditure of each State to its national wealth, measured by gross domestic product (GDP). According to NATO, it is an “indicator of the political will of each State to contribute to the global effort”.
For a long time, there was no clear rule setting the minimum level of military spending required of member states. In fact, the United States accounted for a substantial share of these expenditures, while several other members tended to reduce theirs.
From 2006, the member states of the Alliance agreed to reverse this trend, by collectively setting the objective of increasing their military budget to at least 2% of GDP. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, member countries clarified this objective: the goal was then to “get closer” to 2% by 2024, without this rule becoming binding.
By the end of 2023, only eleven of the thirty-one members had kept their promise. France is still slightly below (1.9%), and Germany even further (1.6%). However, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said on February 14 that seven more countries would reach 2% in 2024. Around ten members would then remain off the mark.
The trend is nevertheless upwards in defense budgets. Since 2014, all the countries of the organization have increased it – eight of them having even more than doubled it. Even though the American share of NATO's indirect funding has been slightly reduced during this period (from 72% to 68% in constant dollars), the United States remains by far the largest indirect contributor within the Alliance, with a budget allocated to defense of more than $860 billion (€800 billion) out of a total budget of $1,264 billion for all allies.
