US Wants Clear NATO Plan to Boost Defense Budgets, Whitaker Says

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said the alliance needs to present clear steps to meet a defense spending target of 5% of economic output with a focus on “hard defense capabilities,” as member-states work to put together a deal that meets President Donald Trump’s demand.

“We need something that’s different” from a pledge agreed to at the Wales summit in 2014 “where everyone agreed to 2% of GDP being spent on defense,” Whitaker told Bloomberg Television on Thursday.