Italian minister: Trump to push for 2.5% defence spending target

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto believes that US President-elect Donald Trump will demand NATO member states allocate at least 2.5 per cent of their GDP for defence spending.

In an interview with foreign media, Crosetto stated, "At the NATO summit in July 2025, Trump will demand that the 2.5 per cent military spending threshold be met—and as soon as possible. I see concerns that the US president might threaten to withdraw from NATO, but he won’t go that far. Instead, he will likely demand that those with lower military expenditures leave the alliance. That would be worse for us," Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

He pointed out that Italy's defence spending is currently below 1.57 per cent of GDP, while many countries are spending between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent.

"We are falling behind others," Crosetto acknowledged, adding that while military spending is increasing, it is not growing as fast as desired. In his view, strengthening national defence is essential to counter potential threats, such as the type of attack seen on Israel. 

Earlier, Crosetto said that Italy is set to allocate 29.18 billion euros ($30.89 billion) for defence this year, a notable increase from last year’s 27.75 billion euros. However, he added, this still represents only 1.54 per cent of the country's GDP. Although the defence budget document for this year had warned of a slight decrease in defence spending for the following year, Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti revised this forecast, stating that spending would rise to 1.57 per cent of GDP next year, 1.58 per cent in 2026, and 1.61 per cent in 2027.

While these figures show gradual growth, they still fall far short of the NATO target of two per cent.

"It needs to be stated that despite the funding, the objective of two per cent of GDP requested by NATO is very ambitious," Giorgetti remarked in parliament. 

In 2014, only three NATO members were meeting the two per cent defence spending target, but today, 23 countries have achieved this, with only eight—Italy among them—failing to meet the goal.

By Naila Huseynova