Trump confirms attendance at The Hague NATO summit, defense spending becomes focal point

[Trump Confirms Attendance at The Hague NATO Summit]

On May 22, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told the media that "his attendance is crucial" after speaking with Trump, and said that Trump has clearly committed to attending the meeting.

The summit, scheduled for June 24-25 in The Hague, the hometown of NATO Secretary General Joseph Borrell, will focus on formally adopting the new defense spending benchmark for the alliance. Bloomberg noted that member states are pushing to achieve Trump's requested target of 5% of GDP for defense spending. German Chancellor Thomas Schäfer first publicly supported raising defense spending to 5% of GDP (including 3.5% for procurement and 1.5% for military infrastructure), and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans to reach the NATO standard of 2% of GDP for defense spending by the end of the year.

Previously, Der Spiegel reported that if European allies do not increase their defense spending, Trump may skip the summit.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1832876946819072/

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