Trump attends NATO summit as allies agree to boost defense spending

President Donald Trump, who announces the ceasefire between Israel and Iran, is outside the Hague, the Netherlands at the annual summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a conference that hopes to obtain another foreign policy victory by pushing European leaders to increase defense spending.

The president is expected to land in the Netherlands on Tuesday and return to the White House on Wednesday.

It is the first NATO summit in Trump since I became president for a second term. In the past, it has been disposed of against NATO members because of the “free loading” off American military protection. This time, European allies are eager to prove that it is a mistake.

NATO reached an agreement for all countries to enhance their defensive spending to five percent of GDP, with the exception of Spain.

Trump initially submitted the order, which is expected to be completed at the top.

“This summit revolves around the credibility of NATO, and we urge all our allies to climb to the painting and push its fair share of the Atlantic security,” said American Ambassador NATO Matthew Whitaker.

Spain caused the complexity of the consensus when Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for an exemption from the new spending goal – which will be a sharp increase in the target of 2 percent, Spain faced a problem.

The Trump week will include a trip to The Hague to meet NATO leaders with the growth of the Iranian crisis

“We completely respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investments, but we will not do it,” Sanchez said.

Trump is expected to meet with Root and other world leaders and hold a press conference. Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelinski is also expected to attend and continue to push Ukraine to accept the coalition and the collective defense agreement.

NATO Secretary -General Mark Retti boasted that the allies were “ascending to an equality of responsibility for our joint security.”

Trump said he does not believe that the United States needs to reach a 5 % goal. “I don’t think we should have, but I think they should,” he told reporters last week.

NATO Secretary -General Mark Root holds a press conference before the NATO summit, in The Hague, the Netherlands June 23, 2025. Reuters/Yves Hermann

What can be expected at the upcoming NATO summit: Trump, spending, Ukraine, Iran

The time of the president will be brief, as it spends about 24 hours on the ground. He will “focus his meetings on issues of common concern and reaffirm the strong US relations with our allies and partners,” according to the administration official.

But they come after Trump boasts a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

“It was fully agreed by Israel and Iran and Iran that there will be a full and full ceasefire (within about 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have ended and have completed their final duties!), For 12 hours, and at this point the war will end!” Trump wrote about the social truth.

Rutte suggested that NATO will stand behind the United States after Iran has launched a quagmire on its air base in Qatar, following the American attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites.

“My biggest fear will have to possess and be able to use a nuclear weapon,” Roti told reporters before the summit.

He defended the American strikes against Iran after he was asked about the similarities between the United States and Russia when it invaded Ukraine in 2022.

A scene showing the next NATO summit, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 23, 2025. Reuters/Christian Hartmann

“This is a fixed position on NATO: Iran should not be its hands on a nuclear weapon,” he said. “I do not agree that this is against international law – what the United States did.”

Roti wanted the summit to be an offer to NATO unity of Russian President Vladimir Putin amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. But the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran makes the conference less predictable.

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The Iraq war in 2003 is divided into NATO: France and Germany opposed the invasion while Britain and Spain joined the coalition forces.