On January 21, 2026, US President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Hours after US President Donald Trump promised to send thousands of new troops to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) eastern flank, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Friday that NATO would spend hundreds of billions of dollars on defense over the next few years.
“The money is really coming in,” Rutte told reporters Friday ahead of a NATO meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, as the allies were “committing more and more.”
Last year, NATO members agreed to raise their defense spending target from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, with the aim of reaching that level by 2035.
Rutte said on Friday that many of the alliance’s 32 members were accelerating their path to 5% spending commitments.
“This literally means hundreds of billions of dollars in additional defense spending over many years,” he told reporters.
Sweden, a new member of NATO, announced this week a $4 billion defense investment and is on track to reach the 5% target by 2030, Rutte said.
“That money is great, but we also need to spend it…on our men and women in uniform, of course, but we also need to spend it on making sure they have what they need to deter and protect, which is the production of our defense industry,” he added.
“There are intense discussions going on with the defense industry and the financial sector to ensure we do what is necessary to increase production rather than raise prices. There is good news coming in and we are making progress, but there is still much work to do.”
Rutte’s comments on Friday came after US President Donald Trump pledged to send 5,000 new troops to Poland, a reversal a week after the Pentagon canceled plans to send 4,000 military personnel to the country, which borders Ukraine.
“Given the successful election of Karol Nawrocki, the current president of Poland, whom I was proud to support, and because of my relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland,” Trump said Thursday on Truth Social.
CNBC has reached out to the Polish government for comment on President Trump’s announcement.
The Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday that Poland “demonstrated both the ability and determination to defend itself.”
“Other NATO allies should follow suit,” he added.
In 2025, Poland will spend an estimated 4.48% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, making it NATO’s largest defense spender as a percentage of the economy.
The United States spent an estimated 3.22% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defense last year, making it the alliance’s sixth-largest spender by the same metric.
Still, in dollar terms, the United States remains by far the largest defense spender in the alliance. According to NATO data, the United States spent an estimated $845 billion on defense last year, dwarfing the $559 billion spent by other allies.
NATO members last year pledged to increase defense spending following pressure from the Trump administration for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own security.
President Trump has continued to criticize NATO, threatening to withdraw from the alliance over the United States’ reluctance to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Poland welcomed Nawrocki to the White House in 2025 after he defeated a candidate representing Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist pro-European party in the country’s presidential election.
Military aircraft fly overhead as U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Polish President Karol Nawloki to the White House during an arrival ceremony on the South Portico on September 3, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong | Getty Images
Asked on Friday about President Trump’s plans to send new troops to NATO’s eastern periphery, Rutte welcomed the announcement and said allied commanders were working out the details.
“Let me be clear: our trajectory is one for a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO, and over time we will certainly become less dependent on one ally, the United States, as we have in the past,” he said, adding that this would give Washington “the option to pivot to other priorities.”
“Our European allies are increasing their spending. This is necessary not only to equalize spending with the United States, but also to ensure we have what we need to deter and defend our adversaries, including Russia, which is a long-term threat,” Rutte added. “The United States will play an important role in Europe… but what we will see over time is a gradual process of Europeans stepping up further.”
David Stubbs, chief investment strategist at Alphacore Wealth Advisory, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday that Rutte has done a “great job” as NATO leader, noting that the U.S. remains committed to the alliance despite the Trump administration’s “punch-packed” rhetoric.
“For investors, European defense spending will be a megatrend for the next 10 to 15 years,” he said. “The future is a stronger Europe in a stronger NATO.”
