Trump chides Italy’s Meloni over military spending

Italy needs to spend more on defense because NATO’s target of 2% of GDP is no longer enough, US President Donald Trump has told Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Trump has long insisted that European member states must boost their own defense. The debate over burden-sharing between the allies has further complicated the Trump administration’s strained relations with Europe.

At a joint press conference in Washington on Thursday, Meloni stated that “Italy is going to the next summit of NATO, announcing that it will raise [defense spending] to 2%, and that’s also progressed.”

“It will go up,” Trump interjected. Asked by a reporter if the 2% target is enough, the US president replied, “It’s never enough.”

Last year, Italy’s defense budget stood at 1.49% of GDP – one of the lowest in NATO. Meloni has been advocating for some time to reclassify expenditure on border patrols and coast guards as military spending.

In January, Trump accused European countries of taking advantage of the US and argued that NATO members should spend at least 5% of their GDP on defense. Last year, 23 of the 32 members hit the 2% target set by NATO in 2014, according to the bloc’s own estimates cited by the BBC. The US spends around 3.5% of GDP on defense and is NATO’s biggest overall contributor.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told the newspaper La Stampa this week that it is “unthinkable” to assume that all European nations would slash social programs to fulfill Trump’s 5% demand. “European countries can’t touch welfare and social achievements,” he said.

Last week, Trump said he would not rule out withdrawing some or all of the 84,000 US troops currently stationed in Europe. “We pay for the military in Europe. We don’t get reimbursed by much,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The New York Times reported on Monday that the US could slash “almost all funding” for international organizations, including the UN and NATO.