U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on June 5 that he was confident NATO members would sign up to Washington’s demand to increase defense spending across the alliance to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
“To be an alliance, you’ve got to be more than flags. You’ve got to be formations. You’ve got to be more than conferences,” Hegseth said as he arrived at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels.