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Allied countries will receive their first formal assessment of a defense spending commitment they made roughly a year ago when NATO leaders gather in Türkiye, the United States' top representative to the alliance said.
Matthew Whitaker, the US Permanent Representative to NATO, said the upcoming summit in Ankara would measure how far member states have come toward a pledge to dedicate at least 5 percent of their budgets to defense spending.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax, Whitaker framed the gathering as a moment of accountability for the alliance.
"Allies will receive their first report card since making the 5 percent commitment," Whitaker said.
Whitaker said the United States would surpass the new benchmark by a wide margin, pointing to a planned $1.5 trillion defense budget for 2027. He said Washington intends to set the pace for other member states heading into the summit, describing the figure as "well above" the 5 percent threshold the alliance agreed to.
The ambassador linked the spending push directly to President Donald Trump, saying allied nations were expected to follow Washington's lead.
"Under the President's leadership, we expect allies to take on responsibility, to look to us as an example, and ultimately to take charge of their own conventional defense," Whitaker said.
Whitaker said European nations would need to assume responsibility for the conventional defense of the continent, calling it an obligation rather than an option for the bloc going forward.
His comments add to a broader push from Washington over the past year for European allies to shoulder a larger share of the alliance's military spending, a campaign that culminated in last year's pledge.
NATO member states agreed last year, under pressure from Trump, to raise their defense spending to 5 percent of gross domestic product.
The commitment was formalized in the final declaration of the alliance's summit held in The Hague in June 2025, where member countries agreed to reach the new spending level by 2035.
The upcoming gathering in Ankara, scheduled for July 7-8, will mark the alliance's 36th leaders' summit and will be hosted by Türkiye, which previously held the role in 2004 in Istanbul.
Whitaker's remarks frame the meeting as the first checkpoint since the 5 percent target was adopted, with member states expected to outline how much progress they have made toward the goal.
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