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Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has praised Donald Trump for making Europe “pay in a BIG way” on increased defence spending, in a private message that the US president shared on his social media platform.

“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world,” Rutte wrote ahead of a Nato summit that begins on Tuesday, referencing the US president’s demand that all allies commit to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP.

“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” he added, according to screenshots of his text message posted by Trump to Truth Social on Tuesday.

“It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed onto 5 per cent!” Rutte wrote. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.”

Rutte also praised Trump’s “decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do”.

A Nato official confirmed the message’s authenticity.

The screenshots appeared on Truth Social as the US president flew to The Hague for a Nato summit that begins on Tuesday evening.

Trump had asked all members of the alliance to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence over the next decade or risk losing the US security guarantees that have underpinned the continent’s security for decades.

While many European allies including Germany, France and the UK have committed to meet Trump’s new target, Spain has secured an opt-out, increasing the likelihood of a clash at the meeting.

On Tuesday, Rutte sought to reassure allies that as long as they drastically increase their defence spending, Trump would not withdraw US guarantees.

“There is total commitment by the US President . . . to Nato,” Rutte said ahead of the event. “However it comes with an expectation that we will deal with this . . . huge irritant that we are not spending enough.

“My message to my European colleagues is: stop worrying so much . . . Stop running around being worried about the US. They are with us,” he added.

To meet Trump’s demands, Rutte has drawn up a plan for allies to allocate 3.5 per cent of their GDP to core military spending and 1.5 per cent on areas such as cyber and infrastructure by 2035, to fill gaps in European capabilities.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that a massive defence spending plan presented to his cabinet on Tuesday showed that Europe’s largest nation was a “strong and reliable” partner.

“We’ve showed our allies we can be relied upon,” he told German MPs before departing for The Hague. “Germany is back on the international stage.”

Germany plans to boost military spending by more than two-thirds over the next four years, reaching 3.5 per cent of GDP in core military spending in 2029, faster than France and the UK.

But Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez has refused to commit to the overall 5 per cent target and secured an opt-out by pledging to meet the Nato capabilities goal at what it estimates will be a lower cost.

Other capitals have also requested the same “flexibility” that Rutte has granted Madrid, increasing the risk for the summit to end in acrimony and triggering Trump’s ire over what he sees as European allies freeloading on American largesse.

Major decisions about who will be New York City’s next top mayoral candidate are set to be made Tuesday, and millions of Americans are betting live on their election odds.

Event contract platform Kalshi recently launched market predictions for multiple NYC election-related prompts, including who will reign in the top spot for Democratic mayoral nominee and the overall race winner.

The 2025 race for New York City mayor is tightening, with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s lead shrinking less than a week ahead of the crucial primary, a poll indicated. Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old Democratic socialist state assemblyman from Queens, stands in second place in the poll.

As of Tuesday morning, Kalshi showed Mamdani with a 56% chance of winning the Democratic Party nomination this year, and Cuomo with a 44% chance. Bettors have poured more than $8 million into the total series volume, according to Kalshi’s website.

ELECTION ‘WHALE’ BETTOR MADE MUCH MORE ON TRUMP WIN THAN ORIGINALLY THOUGHT, ANALYSIS SHOWS

Buying a “yes” share for Mamdani costs roughly $0.57 while a “no” share costs $0.46; Cuomo’s “yes” share can be bought for roughly $0.46 and a “no” share for $0.56.

One Kalshi user posted in the comment section that his $984.75 investment on Mamdani being confirmed as the Democrats’ nominee would make a return of $1,968.96.

Another prediction market asks bettors who will reign as the NYC mayoral race winner between a Democrat, Republican or current Mayor Eric Adams. Eighty-two percent of bettors predicted a Democrat will win, with 12% for Eric Adams and 7% for a Republican.

Because of the large consensus for a Democratic candidate winning the blue city election, buying a “yes” share costs $0.83 and a “no” share costs $0.19.

In general, prediction markets like Kalshi and other platforms, including Polymarket and PredictIt, allow users to trade on the outcome of future events with yes-no questions. Individual trades are between $0 and $1, and contracts pay $1 if the event occurs.

While primary voting will take place until 9 p.m. ET Tuesday, more than 384,000 Democrats cast ballots in early voting, which ended on Sunday.

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The winner of the Democratic Party primary is traditionally seen as the overwhelming frontrunner in the November general election in the Democrat-dominated city.

However, this year, the general election campaign may be a bit more unpredictable with incumbent Adams running for reelection as an Independent and his approval ratings sinking to historic lows.

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Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Pilar Arias contributed to this report.

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Your guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the world

Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to Nato that the UK will raise spending on national security to 5 per cent of GDP within a decade, as members attempt to convince US President Donald Trump to stick with the alliance.

The pledge would raise core defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035, with an additional 1.5 per cent on security related infrastructure such as cyber security and border protection.

The UK prime minister had already pledged to raise defence spending from around 2.3 per cent currently to 2.6 per cent by 2027, with an ambition to increase it to 3 per cent in the next parliament.

But the new pledge of 3.5 per cent on core defence spending means billions more pounds will eventually flow into the army, navy and air force as the UK attempts to reinforce itself against Russian aggression and prove to the US it is pulling its weight.

Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte has pushed for the 5 per cent figure — including the 1.5 per cent on adjacent security spending — partly to boost the headline number for Trump’s eyes, given the US president’s focus on Europe’s lower levels of defence spending in recent decades.

While almost all Nato members have agreed to the spending level, Spain opted out on Sunday, in a blow to the cohesiveness of the group as it tries to present a united front to Trump.

The UK’s funding will make possible many of the plans outlined in this month’s strategic defence review, which recommended a greater use of drones, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence alongside new nuclear warheads, submarines and fighter jets.

Carl Emmerson at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said the increase, in today’s terms, would be like adding approximately £30bn to the 2027 target of around spending £75bn on core defence.

The pledge will raise questions, however, over how the increase will be funded, and whether other public services will face cuts, at a time when the UK is facing a financial squeeze.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to have to raise taxes in the autumn to give her financial headroom, and the government is already facing resistance to plans to cut the UK’s welfare budget.

Starmer said the UK must “navigate this era of radical uncertainty with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest” to provide security for “working people”.

“This is an opportunity to deepen our commitment to Nato and drive greater investment in the nation’s wider security and resilience,” Starmer added.

The 1.5 per cent of non-core spending has been billed by the government as “homeland security” and “resilience” investment and is expected to cover things such as civil preparedness, cyber threats, border and energy security and other areas with defence-adjacent purposes, with the details to be agreed at the Nato summit.

It was not immediately clear, however, whether this will attract any additional spending.

Once adjacent spending was included, the government said UK security spending would be 4.1 per cent of GDP by 2027 — the same year that core defence spending is expected to reach 2.6 per cent.

That implies the adjacent spending is already close to 1.5 per cent of GDP, if it is to reach that level within two years.

Downing Street said more details of the spending plans would be laid out at the Nato summit on Wednesday and Thursday, which Trump is expected to attend.

The UK played up its need to become less reliant on allies, as the Trump administration threatens to reduce support for Europe.

“In a more transactional world, the report determines that building our own sovereign, independent capabilities in strategically important areas will reduce our dependency on other nations,” the government said.

Ministers hope the additional spending will also help boost the UK economy, calling the national security strategy “a call to action that our entire society needs to become more resilient”.

It added: “Recognising that national security means more than it used to — from the security of our borders to the health of our economy, from supply chains to food prices and from safety on our streets to the online world.”

“Faced by this reality in a world of increasing ‘grey zone’ threats, we cannot take a piecemeal approach that enhances the security of one part of our critical national infrastructure but leaves gaps elsewhere for our adversaries to exploit.”

Additional reporting by Sam Fleming