Breaking News

More () »

VERIFY

VERIFY: Does the US fund 90 percent of NATO expenses?

Before the NATO Summit, President Trump claimed that the U.S. was shouldering 90 percent of NATO's expenses and that other countries needed to step it up. Is that true?

QUESTION:

Before the NATO Summit, President Trump claimed that the U.S. was shouldering 90 percent of NATO's expenses and that other countries needed to step it up. Is that true?

ANSWER:

The U.S. does pay for a huge chunk of NATO's defense budget, but it's NOT 90 percent.

SOURCES:

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO): Funding NATO

NATO: Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries (2010-2017)

World Bank GDP Data

2006 Press Briefing with NATO spokesperson, James Appathurai

PROCESS:

NATO leaders met for an international summit July 11. Earlier POTUS claimed that the U.S. was shouldering 90 percent of NATO’s expenses and that other countries needed to step it up.

The United States is spending far more on NATO than any other Country. This is not fair, nor is it acceptable. While these countries have been increasing their contributions since I took office, they must do much more. Germany is at 1%, the U.S. is at 4%, and NATO benefits.......
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018

...Europe far more than it does the U.S. By some accounts, the U.S. is paying for 90% of NATO, with many countries nowhere close to their 2% commitment. On top of this the European Union has a Trade Surplus of $151 Million with the U.S., with big Trade Barriers on U.S. goods. NO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2018

That stat raised a number of eyebrows so we're verifying, whether Trump's financial gripe is over exaggerated.

First, we looked at NATO's total spending, which uses a formula based on Gross Domestic Income to decide how much each it's 29-member countries should spend.

The United States spends the most, about 22 percent of NATO's total budget. Germany reigns in as a close second giving 14 percent, and the United Kingdom and France each fund 10.5 percent of NATO's total budget.

So, the U.S. doesn't give 90 percent for NATO's total budget. But what about NATO's defense budget?

In 2006, NATO suggested that everyone pay 2 percent of their GDP towards NATO's defense budget.

When the suggested 2 percent payment was first announced NATO spokesperson James Appathurai said, "let me be clear, this is not a hard commitment that they will do it, but it is a commitment to work towards.

According to NATO's defense expenditure for 2017, the U.S. has gone above an beyond the suggested contribution, paying 3.57 percent of their GDP.

Greece, the United Kingdom and Estonia were the only other countries to surpass the 2 percent payment.

At the 2018 summit, Trump suggested all countries raise the bar and put up 4 percent for the defense budget.

Since the United States is one of the richest countries, 3.57 percent of their GDP goes a long way, funding 67 percent of NATO's defense budget.

So, we can Verify no. The U.S. does not fund 90 percent of NATO. The U.S. pays 22 percent of the total budget and makes up 67 percent of the defense budget (which is already included in the total budget).

Our researches contacted the White House to find out Trump's source for the stat, but we did not receive a response.

Help VERIFY

Help our journalists VERIFY the news. Do you know someone else we should interview for this story? Did we miss anything in our reporting? Is there another story you'd like us to VERIFY? Click here.