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The U.S. will ask NATO members to pony up some cash this week. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth will travel to Europe to participate in the 81st anniversary of D-Day and to push NATO members to pay into the “defensive” organization that they hold so dear.
The U.S. currently pays for about 64% of NATO members’ combined defense spending, but its direct contribution to NATO’s common budget is only around 16%. That direct contribution totaled about $600 million in 2024.
The other 32 NATO countries don’t even pay 2% of the overall cost. By some estimates, only 22 out of those 32 meet their 2% contribution. That’s pathetic. It means a third of the alliance still underfunds its military obligations—while riding the coattails of U.S. power.
Secretary Hegseth plans to encourage NATO members to spend 5% of their GDP on NATO. But what happens if they don’t?
As journalist Michael Shellenberger put it: “Europeans don’t respect us; they look down on us.” Why would they sacrifice their protected welfare states to support NATO when they know Washington will foot the bill anyway? It’s arrogance layered on top of dependence.
“In Europe, you have universal healthcare, you work 35 hours a week, you retire at a young age, you don’t work nearly as hard as we do in the United States. You have many more benefits in large part because we pay for your security and in turn we just get disrespect,” Shellenberger said.
So even if Secretary Hegseth says “please”: why would they change anything?