“The frustration we felt because of the Europeans was very real,” said a source from the American administration, according to the newspaper. “No country that does not pay five percent should have the right to vote on future spending in NATO,” he added.
In addition to removing the decision-making right, Trump also thinks that member states that do not meet five percent defense spending would not have the right to activate Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on Collective Defense.
“According to the proposals that Trump is considering, NATO allies who do not meet the new goal could be excluded from decisions on expansion, joint missions and the application of Article 5 on mutual defense,” the newspaper wrote.
“Trump is considering this change to punish members who fail to meet his funding requirements,” the paper said.
The American source further stated that it is necessary to make it clear to Spain and the United Kingdom that it is unacceptable not to meet defense expenses. According to the NATO annual report published on Thursday, Madrid spent exactly 2 percent of GDP on defense in 2025. London then 2.31 and Washington, which is pushing to meet five percent, 3.19 percent. According to the report, the Czech Republic gave 2.01 percent, Slovakia 2.06 and Hungary 2.07. No country got below two percent.
According to sources, Trump is also considering the withdrawal of all American soldiers from Germany, which, according to the newspaper, the American president has been thinking about since last year. For the time being, he withdrew thousands of soldiers from Europe, for example from Romania and other countries of NATO’s eastern wing.
Merrick criticized the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic will spend 154.79 billion crowns in the budget for defense in 2026, which corresponds to less than 1.8 percent of GDP. This was criticized by the American ambassador to the Czech Republic, Nicholas Merrick, at the beginning of March.
“According to experts, the basic defense spending included in the draft budget for 2026 will amount to approximately 1.8 percent of GDP. This is far below not only the commitment from the Hague summit, but also the commitment from the summit in Wales and below last year’s level,” the ambassador calculated.
“With 1.8 percent, the Czech Republic would risk being among the countries with the lowest spending in the alliance. It would show negative dynamics compared to other NATO partners. What is even more important is that at this level of spending, the Czech Republic risks not meeting its own spending in the field of capacity building,” he said.
“If the Czech Republic does not fulfill its obligations, it will have an impact on the entire alliance, and I don’t even need to remind the Czech people how important it is for the allies to keep their obligations,” he added.
