By Joshua Arnold

At President Donald Trump’s urging, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members committed on Wednesday to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP. “That is indeed monumental because as little as four or five years ago, we had single digit countries that had even met their 2% commitment,” said Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) on “Washington Watch.” “Some of them will take a while to get there,” but “this will change NATO.”

NATO members first agreed to spend 2% of GDP on defense in 2006, and they reaffirmed that commitment in 2014, the year Russia invaded Crimea. But Wednesday’s communique more than doubled that earlier commitment.

“Allies commit to invest 5% of GDP annually on core defence requirements as well as defence-and security-related spending by 2035,” they pledged. “Allies will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP annually … to resource core defence requirements …. And Allies will account for up to 1.5% of GDP annually to inter alia protect our critical infrastructure, defend our networks, ensure our civil preparedness and resilience, unleash innovation, and strengthen our defence industrial base.”

Only one NATO member refused this commitment. “Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly,” Trump said. The reason may lie in Spain’s weak economy and staggering government debt. In 2012, Spain received a $122 billion bailout from the European Union, and its government debt remains above 100% GDP, despite gradual improvement in every subsequent year (except 2020).

The increased commitment provides a sharp contrast to the attitude among NATO members during Trump’s first term. At the 2017 summit, Trump complained, “23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they are supposed to be paying for their defense. This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States.”

One reason for the change is Trump’s own leadership, suggested FRC President Tony Perkins. “President Trump is responsible for this influence that the United States has brought to them, in part, I think, because of what just happened on the world stage, that the president is willing to follow through with action to his words.” European leaders may also be afraid that antagonizing Trump may provoke him to reimpose tariffs.

The other major factor changing European attitudes toward NATO is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Europe now realizes that they have existed under the U.S. umbrella, both nuclear and conventional, for decades now,” Self stated. “And frankly, with that war on their doorstep, they understand they have got to step up, because … the U.S. must turn to China — to a certain degree, not totally. And they realize they’ve now got to shoulder their own burden, for their own defense, because the world is becoming a dangerous place.”

Effusive praise for Trump’s Iranian strike also contrasted to the distrust and hostility Trump encountered during his first term. “Almost every one of them said, ‘Thank God for the United States,’” Trump acknowledged. “I left here differently. I left here saying that these people really love their countries. It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them protect their country.” Foreign officials quickly learned that flattery was the best way to ingratiate themselves with Trump.

This apparent change of heart caught some of Trump’s MAGA allies off guard. As Trump traveled to the Summit, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) introduced bills that would take the U.S. out of NATO. His Tennessee colleague, Senator Marsha Blackburn (R) also endorsed them.

The highest praise for Trump came from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, former prime minister of the Netherlands. He called Trump a “man of peace” and a “man of strength” for securing a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, appealing to the terms Trump has used to describe his own strategy. When Trump compared Israel and Iran to “two kids in a school yard” fight, Rutte added that “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language,” referring to Trump’s profanity-laden reaction to post-ceasefire attacks. (Trump’s official website has leaned into the nickname “Daddy” with t-shirts.)

Basking in such praise, Trump sounded more positive about the NATO alliance than he was in his first term. “I came here because it was something I’m supposed to be doing, but I left here a little bit different,” he said Wednesday. “I’ve never seen quite anything like it. They want to protect their country, and they need the United States, and without the United States, it’s not going to be the same.”

Whatever circumstances led to the NATO love-fest, the results seem to be worth it. A decade ago, less than a fifth of NATO members spent 2% of their GDP on defense as pledged. Now, not only have many countries reached that level, but nearly every NATO member committed to increasing their defense spending to 5% of GDP.

The recent American strike on Iran’s nuclear weapons program demonstrates the importance of NATO members taking their military investment seriously. America’s adversaries will not be dissuaded from their aggression by rhetoric or diplomacy alone. The only language they respond to is cold, hard force. “Russia, China, North Korea, Iran … they are the modern axis of evil,” insisted Self. “The tyrants around the world are never going to be weak until they are defeated.”

“This is a monumental win for the United States, because we were carrying much more than our fair share,” Trump declared. “This is a big win for Europe and actually for Western civilization.”

Joshua Arnold is a senior writer at The Washington Stand.