<p>Several United States Presidents have complained about NATO members not paying their fair share, but Trump has made the issue a priority. ;</p>
<p>NATO members in 2014 agreed to increase military spending to 2% of GDP by the year 2024. Only a fraction of NATO&rsquo;s 28 members hit the target in 2017: the United States, Greece, United Kingdom, Romania, Poland, and Estonia.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States,&rdquo; said President Trump last spring during a speech to alliance members. ;</p>
<p>Reports show that military spending in Europe is growing, but that surging economies are making it harder for some countries to reach the 2% goal. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;European allies and Canada spent almost $46 billion more on defense&rdquo; since 2014, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. &ldquo;We are moving in the right direction when it comes to burden-sharing and defense spending.&rdquo; ;</p>
<p>Lithuania and Latvia have agreed to increase spending and are expected to hit the target by 2018. Spain, one of the lowest-spending countries in the alliance, announced in December plans to increase military spending by 80% over the next 7 years. ;</p>
<p>Germany, a frequent target of Trump&rsquo;s criticism, continues to lag behind the target. Germany&rsquo;s spending dropped in 2017, amounting to just 1.13% of a projected 1.22%. Germany&rsquo;s federal industry association (the BDI) blames the drop on stronger-than-expected economic growth.</p>
<p>While ;German Chancellor Angela Merkel&rsquo;s Christian Democrats (CDU) support plans to increase Germany&rsquo;s military spending to hit the 2% target, the other half of her coalition government &#8211; the Social Democrats (SPD) &#8211; favor an ;increase in foreign aid spending instead. ;</p>
<p>A tentative spending proposal ;between the CDU and SPD ;puts military spending at about 1.15% for the next 4 years and does not mention the 2% NATO target. ;</p>
<p>&#8212;</p>
<p>The United States spends about 3.6% of its GDP on defense &#8211; more money than the next seven countries combined. ;The US plans to spend $582.7 billion on defense in FY2017, a figure that is larger than the entire national economic output of all but 20 countries on the planet. ;</p>
<p>In recent days, President Trump has hinted that NATO members could earn exemptions from his aluminum and steel tariffs by meeting the 2% goal. Stoltenberg refused to comment on that possibility, but made it clear that trade and defense are issues that should remain separate. ;</p>
<p>&ldquo;There are some differences when it comes to trade but, at the same time, I am absolutely certain NATO will stand united around our core task of defending and protecting each other.&rdquo; ;</p>