EXPOSED: EU’s $650bn UNDERSPEND on defence that has bloc leaders dreading hawkish Trump’s return

It comes after incoming President Donald Trump demanded NATO members dramatically increase their defence spending last week.

Trump wants members of the Alliance to spend five per cent of GDP on defence, a near tripling of the current two per cent target which many don’t hit.

Germany, the EU’s largest economy, spends 1.64 per cent of GDP on defence, for example, though that figure is set to rise to 2.1 per cent next year.

At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the best track record on defence spending and has surpassed its NATO targets over the same period by +$60billion.

Also in Donald Trump’s good books on defence are Poland (+$25billion) which spends an enormous 4.1 per cent of GDP on defence and Greece (+$18billion).

The President-elect's demands have split European nations, many of which have stagnating economies and rising gilt yields.

The man most likely to be elected German Chancellor next month, Friedrich Merz, was dismissive, telling the German press: “The 2, 3 or 5 percent is basically irrelevant. What matters is that we do what is necessary to defend ourselves.”

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said in the Italian parliament on Wednesday: “I don’t think it will be 5 [percent], which at this time would be impossible for almost all the nations in the world.”

But Estonian PM Kristen Michal was of the opposite opinion, stating: “This is the message that Estonia has been advocating for years.

“This is a clear signal to [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin that he should not dare to test NATO’s nerves and that we are prepared for it.”

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So too was Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard who said: “US governments have long urged European countries to increase their defence spending and to bear more of their own defence costs. We share this view.”

In his first term from 2017-2021, Trump regularly attacked NATO member’s poor spending, at one point calling for NATO members to ‘reimburse’ the US for the defence deterrent it had paid for.

Trump tweeted in 2018: “Many countries in NATO, which we are expected to defend, are not only short of their current commitment of 2% (which is low), but are also delinquent for many years in payments that have not been made. Will they reimburse the U.S.?”

As Facts4EU and GB News analysis reveals, this ‘delinquency’ debt now stands at $650billion, over half a trillion dollars.

Add into the mix the fact Mark Rutte, the ex-Dutch PM and ardent EU fan, is now NATO Secretary General and it is easy to see how Trump’s relations with NATO may be tested over coming weeks.

The US spent 3.4 per cent of GDP on defence last year.