WASHINGTON — The European allies in NATO are increasing their military spending, as are Donald Trump wanted. They point to common interests, such as concerns about China. They create American jobs by buying American weapons.
In words, actions and arms deals, leaders of the United States’ NATO allies are advocating for the military alliance in ways likely to appeal to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Even when their actions aren’t necessarily directly related to Trump’s incitement, allies are casting them in terms he would approve of — and perhaps take credit for.
It is not clear what Trump would do about US participation in NATO if elected. He has ignored questions from reporters, even when President Joe Biden has portrayed him as a threat to the 75-year-old Western military alliance.
But European leaders are worried. As Russia intensifies missile attacks on cities in Ukraine, a democracy at the heart of Europe, the battle to keep the U.S. in NATO is much more than playing games for European partners. For some, it is existential.
“If Ukraine loses, my country will be next. That’s clear,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said during the NATO summit in Washington last week.
His government is raising taxes to meet the urgent need of the majority of European NATO members to bolster military capabilities in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
At the summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed that allies had gotten Trump’s message: a record 23 out of 32 countries now spend at least the agreed 2% of their gross domestic product on their militaries.
“The United States has been understood. Allies have acted,” Stoltenberg said in response to one of many questions about a possible Trump withdrawal from NATO.
Stoltenberg and most others had previously said that it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that had largely triggered NATO members’ security spending in Europe. In 2021, only six allies had met their spending targets.
The message from Europe, because it makes the case that the country with the biggest military and the biggest economy should stay involved: The US is good for European allies and NATO. And NATO and European allies are good for the US. And a Europe that is safe and stable is a great market for the US.
“This defense of Europe is not just a defense that is connected to values — it is, it is the alliance, it is democracy, it is values. But you know, it is business,” Jacek Siewiera, the head of Poland’s National Security Agency, said in an interview with The Associated Press ahead of the summit.
Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasčiūnas listed the priorities his country would share with Trump if he returns to the White House: making Europe’s defense more self-reliant, buying more American weapons and thus generating more business for the U.S. arms industry. confronting perceived security threats to the West from Chinaand sanctions against Iran.
“He is a dealmaker,” Kasčiūnas said during a panel discussion at the summit. “I think we should sit down, calm down and if he wins, make a deal.”
Of the US elections in turmoil After Biden’s poor debate performance and struggles since then, European officials must walk a delicate balance to prove he can serve another four years. They are publicly stressing that they will work with whoever wins in November, and don’t want to be seen as meddling in American politics by saying they care about Trump or insulting Biden by openly preparing for a new Trump presidency.
Trump has stirred up unrest by heaping praise on Russian President Vladimir Putin, even calling his invasion of Ukraine “genius.” He has also poured scorn on NATO, a mutual defense pact signed in 1949 as the West confronted the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
U.S. presidents and lawmakers, including Biden, have warned Europe for decades, particularly as European military spending declined after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, that it needed to do more to share NATO’s financial and military responsibilities.
But Trump has warned more often and loudly — and during the current campaign he has threatened to invite Russia to attack NATO allies that don’t spend enough on their militaries.
“I just want them to pay their bills. We protect Europe. They are taking advantage of us very badly,” he told Fox News Radio last week as Biden and NATO leaders met in Washington, acknowledging that European defense spending has in fact increased significantly.
Although not as open as Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, who visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago After the NATO summit, European officials worked to build relations with the Trump camp, former diplomats say.
European officials regularly visit the factories in American cities and towns that produce the weapons their countries buy. Sometimes they don’t mention these factories during their conversations, emphasizing their contribution to the American economy.
Siewiera, the Polish national security official, remembers Trump’s first term as prosperous for Poland. It was then that his administration began investing heavily in U.S. weapons, including HIMARS missile launchers, Patriot air defense systems, F-35 fighter jets and Abrams tanks.
“President Trump was right to lecture us,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said Friday at an event at a think tank in Washington. “So credit where credit is due. Partly.”
Ultimately, said Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland now at the Atlantic Council’s research center, Trump “likes to be a winner.”
“If Trump takes credit and continues US support for NATO because he saved NATO, then that is a narrative I would encourage Europeans to accept,” Fried said.
