President Donald Trump departed for the annual NATO summit at The Hague on Tuesday, hoping to claim another major foreign policy victory as most NATO allies have already agreed to his demand to boost defense spending after the president called out the European nations for “freeloading” and taking advantage of American military protection.

NATO countries, except Spain, agreed in preliminary talks to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product, a significant increase from the previous 2% target that many allies struggled to meet.

The spending commitment is divided into two parts: 3.5% for traditional military spending, such as air defense and recruitment, while the remaining 1.5% can include infrastructure like roads and bridges that troops could use.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has resisted the spending increase, arguing that it would strain the country’s extensive welfare state.

“We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defence investment, but we are not going to do it,” Sanchez said. In 2024, Spain’s defense expenditure as a share of GDP stood at a measly 1.28%, the lowest of any NATO country.

However, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte struck an optimistic tone early Tuesday morning when President Trump shared a private message from him that read: “You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy, but we’ve got them all signed onto 5 percent!”

“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” Rutte said. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.”

Trump told reporters he doesn’t believe the United States needs to reach the 5% target itself, given that the United States is far separated from many threats NATO faces and does not have a need to invest in wartime infrastructure to the same degree.

Rutte, a Dutch politician who has served as secretary general of NATO since October 2024, has expressed strong support from NATO for recent U.S. military actions against Iran, rejecting suggestions that American strikes violated international law.

“This is a consistent position of NATO: Iran should not have its hands on a nuclear weapon,” Rutte told reporters ahead of the summit. “I would not agree that this is against international law — what the U.S. did.”

Trump is expected to meet with various world leaders at the summit. He said he would “probably” see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country continues pushing for admission into the alliance.

Trump’s meetings “will focus on issues of shared concern and reaffirm the United States’ strong ties with our allies and partners,” an administration official told Fox News.

The summit was initially set to focus on the alliance’s position in the Russia-Ukraine war, but the Trump-brokered Israel-Iran ceasefire is expected to be the main topic of discussion.