Canada promises to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035

27-Jun-2025

.

NATO leaders — including Canada — have approved a plan to dramatically increase defence spending across the Western alliance to five per cent of the gross domestic product over the next decade, a decision that has given U.S. President Donald Trump a significant policy victory.

They gathered behind closed doors in the Netherlands on Jun 25, where the final details and potential grievances were hashed out.

Members of the alliance, however, were expecting something in return — a fervent commitment from Trump on NATO's self-defence clause, Article 5.

Senior Canadian officials, speaking on background following the meeting, said the allies seemed comfortable with the U.S. president's reassurances, despite his equivocating in public about whether Washington would come to the defence of its allies in a crisis.