U.S. NATO Ambassador Warns Europe Must ‘Dramatically Increase’ Defense Spending to Meet Rising Threats

By James Morley III

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated today that the United States remains firmly committed to the NATO alliance, but emphasized European nations must dramatically increase defense investment to address escalating security threats.

During discussions on Saturday, Whitaker addressed concerns raised in Czech Republic political debates regarding NATO obligations. He noted that “The Czech government, certainly from a political campaign standpoint, said things about NATO and their willingness to be bound by the commitment that we made at The Hague.”

Whitaker firmly rejected claims that the United States is preparing to withdraw from Europe or the alliance. “Americans are not leaving Europe or the alliance,” he stated.

The remarks follow the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to pressure NATO members to meet defense spending requirements, arguing that the burden of security has disproportionately fallen on the United States for years.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized countries failing to meet the alliance’s benchmark of spending at least 2% of GDP on defense, advocating greater burden-sharing and warning that the U.S. cannot indefinitely subsidize European security.

Whitaker indicated that the United States expects Europe to take a more prominent role in conventional military readiness. “We need Europe, which are very rich countries, very successful countries, to sort of take over the conventional defense,” he explained. “That frees up the United States to take care of these other challenges and threats with our allies in those regions.”

Whitaker stressed that NATO allies must enhance both military spending and coordination. “But I think ultimately they’re going to realize, that you’re going to have to be stronger, you’re going to have to invest in capabilities and you’re going to have to train more with NATO allies to make sure we’re interoperable and we can fight as one,” he said.

He noted the U.S. continues to outspend its allies on defense, describing America’s approach as “leading from the front” in terms of defense spending. Whitaker added that this trend would require sustained political will: “This is going to be a long haul, and we’ve got to make sure that everybody maintains their discipline and their political will.”

Reinforcing the administration’s message, Whitaker asserted: “The United States is not abandoning Europe, we’re not leaving. We’re just saying that together we are stronger, and we expect our European allies to match, and we expect you to be ready, we expect you to be more lethal than you have been and we expect you to be a lot more capable.”