Former Vice President Mike Pence’s advocacy group is praising President Trump’s “major victory” in securing a large defense spending boost by NATO countries at the alliance’s annual summit last week.
The memo from Advancing American Freedom praising Trump’s efforts to wring more money out of NATO allies, which was sent to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and obtained by National Review, represents a show of unity between more interventionist conservatives, who have at times been critical of Trump’s rhetoric on the world stage, and an administration that has shown itself to be more nimble on foreign policy questions than some of its restraint-oriented backers might have predicted.
During the meeting in the Hague, NATO moved its members’ defense-spending pledge to 5 percent of GDP, which includes 3.5 percent on military spending and an additional 1.5 percent on defense-related expenditures. That follows Trump’s decade-long crusade against U.S. allies that he accused of freeloading.
“NATO was broke, and I said, ‘You’re going to have to pay,’ And we did a whole thing, and now they’re paying a lot,” Trump said at the summit.
In a memo sent to members of Congress, the group touted Trump’s role in convincing NATO allies to spend more — and named and shamed countries that are not pulling their weight.
“While Spain alone rejected the proposal (the only country to spend less last year than the year before), many other nations will have an uphill battle to meet their new pledges. Even still, securing this new bottomline commitment is a major victory for the Trump administration,” the memo reads.
“Only by continuing to reverse previous trends can NATO successfully exercise deterrence and ensure that our Article V mutual defense pledge need never be invoked again.”
AAF’s strong praise for Trump is noteworthy because it has broken with Trump on several other issues throughout his second term. It lobbied GOP senators against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as secretary of health and human services.
In recent public appearances, Pence has expressed opposition to Trump’s extensive use of tariffs and the pressure he exerted on Ukraine in the initial months of his second term.
Last week, NATO members heaped praise on the president during press conferences, behind closed doors, and in plenary sessions and private exchanges. Trump posted to Truth Social a text message he received from NATO secretary general Mark Rutte, filled with effusive praise for the president: “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!”
The AAF memo to members of Congress also features charts detailing the NATO members that were delinquent on their defense-spending commitments, according to the latest figures available from 2024. That list included Turkiye, the Netherlands, Germany, Czechia, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Slovenia, Canada, and Luxembourg.
“A strong America requires a strong NATO. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, our NATO allies are finally waking up and prioritizing defense spending,” AAF policy director John Shelton told National Review. “While this should have happened years ago, better late than never. AAF will continue to advocate for common sense defense spending domestically and abroad.”