Subject: Re: Trump: I Would Encourage Russia...
onepoorguy: I get frustration about not meeting defense spending targets.

We talked about this less than two weeks ago. To repeat:

First, allied leaders agreed on two key 10-year spending targets at the Wales summit in September 2014. By 2024, they said, members would, 1.) "move towards" or go beyond spending 2 percent of GDP on their militaries, while, 2.) committing 20 percent of annual defense spending to major new equipment and related research and development.

Not all NATO nations have met the 2 percent goal but most have moved towards it, as agreed. As of July 2023, all 31 member states had surpassed the 20 percent spending target. As Fabrice Pothier, a former director of policy planning for NATO, said: "It's not just about how much you spend, it's where you spend it."