World
Most NATO members endorse Trump demand to up defence spending
Most US allies at NATO have endorsed US President Donald Trump’s demand that they invest 5% of GDP on defence and are ready to ramp up security spending, the alliance’s Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Thursday.
“There’s broad support,” Rutte told reporters after chairing a meeting of NATO defence ministers at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.
“We are really close,” he said, adding that he has “total confidence that we will get there” by the next NATO summit in three weeks.
European allies and Canada have already been investing heavily in their armed forces, as well as on weapons and ammunition, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
At the same time, some have balked at US demands to invest 5% of GDP on defence; 3.5% on core military spending and 1.5% on the roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports needed to deploy armies more quickly.
Struggling to meet the goal
In 2023, as Russia’s war on Ukraine entered its second year, NATO leaders agreed to spend at least 2% of GDP on national defence budgets.
So far, 22 of the 32 member countries have done so, and others are still struggling to meet the target.
Trump and his NATO counterparts appear likely to endorse the new goal at a summit in The Hague on 24-25 June.
Trump insists that US allies should spend at least 5% so America can focus on security priorities elsewhere, mostly in the Indo-Pacific and on its own borders.
He has gained important leverage over other NATO countries by casting doubt over whether the United States would defend allies that spend too little.
The new goal would involve a 1.5% increase over the current 2% goal for defence budgets. It means that all 32 countries would be investing the same percentage.
The United States spends by far more than any other ally in dollar terms.
But according to NATO’s most recent figures, it was estimated to have spent 3.19% of GDP in 2024, down from 3.68% a decade ago. It’s the only ally whose spending has dropped since 2014.
While the two new figures do add up to 5%, factoring in improvements to civilian infrastructure so that armies can deploy more quickly significantly changes the basis on which NATO traditionally calculates defence spending.
The seven-year time frame is also short by the alliance’s usual standards. The far more modest 2% target, set after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014, was meant to be reached over a decade.
US leadership at NATO
According to US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Trump has done nothing less than save NATO.
He told reporters that European allies around the table on Thursday had said: “We hear you. We all need increased capabilities. We all need to spend more. Thank you, President Trump, for reviving this alliance. It was an alliance that was sleepwalking to irrelevance.”
The extra spending will also be needed should the Trump administration announce a force draw down in Europe, where around 84,000 US troops are based, leaving European allies to plug any security gaps.
Asked what the Pentagon’s plans are, Hegseth did not explain but he said: “It would only be responsible for the United States to continually assess our force posture, which is precisely what we’ve done.”
“America can’t be everywhere all the time, nor should we be and so there are reasons why we have troops in certain places,” he said, offering the assurance that any review would be done “alongside our allies and partners to make sure it’s the right size.”
During the meeting, Hegseth and his defence counterparts also approved purchasing targets for stocking up on weapons and military equipment to better defend Europe, the Arctic and the North Atlantic.
The “capability targets” lay out goals for each of the 32 nations to purchase priority equipment like air defence systems, long-range missiles, artillery, ammunition, drones and “strategic enablers” such as air-to-air refuelling, heavy air transport and logistics.
Each nation’s plan is classified, so details are scarce.
The new targets are assigned by NATO based on a blueprint agreed upon in 2023, the alliance’s biggest planning shakeup since the Cold War, to defend its territory from an attack by Russia or another major adversary.
Under those plans, NATO would aim to have up to 300,000 troops ready to move to its eastern flank within 30 days, although experts suggest the allies would struggle to muster those kinds of numbers.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
A young couple in Indonesia was publicly caned Thursday after allegedly kissing during a TikTok livestream.
The couple — a 22-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman — each received 21 lashes, according to The Associated Press.
They were reportedly convicted of violating local morality laws under an Islamic Sharia court in Indonesia’s conservative Aceh province.
The pair, who were detained in March, had already spent four months in prison prior to the punishment, which ultimately reduced their sentence from 25 lashes to 21, the AP said.
SOUTH CAROLINA FITNESS TRAINER TOLD FRIENDS SHE WANTED TO LEAVE HER NOW-HUSBAND YEARS BEFORE BODY WAS FOUND
Shariah law officials assist an unmarried woman, convicted of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream, to get up after being publicly caned, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
According to local authorities, the couple filmed a TikTok video inside a car one night in March.
As the video went viral, they were subsequently apprehended for what officials described as an “immoral act.”
“Their actions were uncovered thanks to reports from residents who were disturbed by their immoral livestream content,” Sharia police said in April.
“The trigger was their livestream on TikTok while engaging in immoral acts in the car,” Head of the Sharia Police Muhammad Rizal added in his statement. “This sparked criticism from netizens and local residents, who then reported them to the authorities.”
THREE HIKERS KILLED AFTER CLIMBING RESTRICTED INDONESIAN VOLCANO TO CREATE ONLINE CONTENT, POLICE SAY
A man is publicly caned after he was convicted of violating Islamic law by kissing during a TikTok livestream in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
The court also confiscated a cellphone and a USB flash drive containing the TikTok video, which authorities promised to destroy, according to the AP.
A Banda Aceh resident who attended the caning, 22-year-old Aini Nadhirah, said she believed the punishment was “entirely justified.”
“In my opinion, this caning is entirely justified because it serves as a warning to other Aceh residents to be more careful when using social media,” Nadhirah said, according to the AP.
“It also raises awareness that such actions are unacceptable, thereby educating the public.”
STUNNING PHOTOS CAPTURE MOMENT ONE OF INDONESIA’S MOST ACTIVE VOLCANOES ERUPTS
Aceh is the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia that enforces its own Islamic Criminal Code governing moral conduct.
The province’s right to implement Islamic law was granted by Indonesia’s secular central government around 2005 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist insurgency. The policy was later expanded to apply to non-Muslims.
Under the law, moral offenses — including adultery and same-sex relations — can carry penalties of up to 100 lashes. Caning is also used for individuals accused of gambling, drinking, adultery and premarital intimacy.
Shariah law officials escort a woman convicted of violating Islamic law by kissing a man, both unmarried, during a TikTok livestream after her public caning, in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Thursday, July 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Reza Saifullah)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Public caning in Aceh has long drawn criticism from human rights groups, including Amnesty International Indonesia, which has called the practice cruel and degrading.
Despite Indonesia having ratified international conventions prohibiting cruel punishment, authorities in Aceh defend the practice, arguing it does not fall under such a definition.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Published on
This week, The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched a fresh wave of raids across France, Spain, Italy and Belgium. They are digging into the 4.3 million euros of EU funds allegedly misused by the European Parliament’s Identity and Democracy group between 2019-2024. What’s going on?
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
The prosecutors are scrutinising whether the party breached public tender rules when awarding public contracts and issued irregular donations using those taxpayer funds.
Importantly, that political group is dead. It has been rebranded into the new “Patriots for Europe” coalition, led by the rising star Jordan Bardella. They are currently the third-largest force in the European Parliament.
It seems like the name on the office door has changed, but the paper trail remains. And the European prosecutors are conducting searches at the offices and homes of communication providers tied to that old group.
Last year when the investigation was announced, Bardella claimed it was “a new harassment operation.”
At the same time, the timing for the National Rally, so Bardella’s party, could not be more brutal.
Next week, Marine Le Pen discovers if a Paris court will uphold a five-year ban from public office on allegations of, well, embezzling public funds. If she is out, Bardella is the designated successor.
Will the National Rally maintain its political momentum? After all, the party relies on its image as the “voice of the people” against a distant Brussels elite.
Watch the Euronews video in the player above for the full story.
-
Lifestyle11 minutes agoTo be or not to be a parent : It’s Been a Minute
-
Technology23 minutes agoSony’s PlayStation disc factory is already being repurposed
-
World26 minutes agoCouple publicly caned after alleged TikTok kiss sparks outrage in Indonesia
-
Politics31 minutes agoWATCH: Controversial SCOTUS decision strikes a divide among lawmakers
-
Health38 minutes agoBig Medicare change slashes weight-loss drug costs for eligible seniors
-
Sports41 minutes agoVAR denies Croatia’s game-tying goal as Cristiano Ronaldo leads Portugal to Round of 16
-
Technology46 minutes agoNew sodium-ion battery could reshape grid storage
-
Business53 minutes agoHome insurer surcharges for wildfires is legal, judge rules
