JUNE 26, 2025 – During a press briefing on the last day of the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, President Donald J. Trump emphasized the need for all member states to share the financial burden of European defense spending.
Alliance members, he said, agreed to increase their annual defense spending, ultimately up to 5% of their gross domestic product.
“It’s vital that this additional money be spent on very serious military hardware, not bureaucracy, and hopefully that hardware is going to be made in America because we have the best hardware in the world,” Trump said, noting the successful air defense of Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar by the United States against incoming Iranian missiles.
The president also mentioned the war in Ukraine, which he said has highlighted the urgency of rebuilding the defense industrial base, both in the United States and among the allied nations.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said the summit was a success and highlighted the Hague Defense Investment Plan, which he said, “will fuel a quantum leap in our collective defense.”
“Together, allies have laid the foundations for a stronger, fairer and more lethal NATO,” Rutte added.
Trump said the June 21, 2025, attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the U.S. was very successful and those sites were totally obliterated. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was with the president, said it’s important to honor the skill and courage of the pilots who flew the fighter jets and refuelers during the attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
“No other military on Earth could have done it, and now this incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace with a historic ceasefire agreement,” Trump said, referring to the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Iran.
The president added that he’s hoping to obtain a peace agreement with Iran.
By David Vergun, DOD News