By Yasin Gungor
ISTANBUL (AA) - NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed all alliance members agreed to 5% defense spending targets, calling it a "big success" of Donald Trump in a message shared Tuesday by the US president on Truth Social.
"It was not easy but we've got them all signed onto 5 percent!" Rutte wrote to Trump ahead of NATO meetings in The Hague.
The NATO chief said Trump achieved "something NO American president in decades could get done" by securing the unprecedented spending commitment from European allies.
"Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win," Rutte said, acknowledging the financial burden on European nations.
The 5% defense spending target represents a significant increase from the current 2% GDP benchmark that many NATO members struggle to meet.
Rutte also praised Trump's actions on the Iran-Israel conflict as “truly extraordinary."
"Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer," Rutte wrote.