Religion
The analysis •
Trump is causing confusion over the figures. Here’s how much the United States actually spends on NATO
It is true that, in terms of total military spending, the US spends roughly twice as much as Europe. However, in relation to GDP, Italy contributes eight times as much to the cost of the alliance. Data on funding
“The United States spends more on NATO than any other country, and by a wide margin, to ensure its protection, without deriving any benefit from it,” wrote Donald Trump on Truth, listing the expenditure of the US and certain other members. “United States $999 billion, United Kingdom 90.5 billion, France 66.5 billion, Italy 48.8 billion, Poland 44.3 billion. The figures for other countries, including Germany, are much lower.” Given his character, it is difficult to tell whether he is deliberately causing confusion, or whether he himself is the first not to have a clear understanding of the facts. At a time when the alliance is meeting in Ankara specifically to decide on these requests, it is therefore useful to untangle these figures, to avoid confusing three different matters. One thing is, in fact, total military expenditure. Another is military expenditure as a percentage of GDP. A third is expenditure on NATO funding.