NATO Summit: Leaders meet amid doubts over Trump's commitment

NATO leaders gather in The Hague as defence spending takes centre stage amid renewed doubts over Trump’s commitment to the alliance.

Transcript

00:00Leaders of NATO countries are gathering in The Hague for this year's summit

00:04with a major defense spending hike on the table, a response to demand by Donald Trump.

00:11The U.S. president is also attending the meeting amid fresh concerns about his commitment to the alliance's mutual defense pact.

00:18A new target of 5% of GDP to be achieved over the next 10 years is being proposed,

00:23with 3.5% allocated to core defense and 1.5% to defense-related spending.

00:30All NATO members backed the pledge except Spain, which said it did not intend to meet the goal.

00:36European leaders hope the higher spending will keep the alliance's largest donor committed to protecting them.

00:43Speaking ahead of the summit, Trump played down concerns over his commitment to mutual defense among allies,

00:49as set out by Article 5 of NATO's charter.

00:52This comes after Trump cast doubts on his willingness to honor this commitment,

00:58previously also threatening that he might only defend allies that spend more on the fence.