Europe has been notified that Trump is asking NATO member countries to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

On the 21st local time, the British Financial Times reported that U.S. President-elect Trump recently sent a clear signal to Europe, demanding that NATO member countries increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. Informed sources revealed that Trump's foreign policy aides stated during talks with senior European officials this month that Trump will continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine and seek an end to the conflict. Previously, Trump had vowed during the campaign to cut aid to Ukraine, forcing Kiev to immediately engage in peace talks. If NATO member countries fail to invest enough funds in defense, they will lose their "defense capability." Trump's statement once caused panic in European capitals. However, according to three other sources familiar with the situation, Trump plans to maintain military supplies to Kiev after taking office, which is good news for allies who were once deeply worried. At the same time, Trump will demand that NATO double its expenditure target from 2% of GDP to over 5%. According to current NATO rules, member countries should allocate at least 2% of GDP to defense spending, but currently, only 23 out of 32 NATO member countries have reached this target. Later this week, major European NATO allies, including France, Germany, the UK, Italy, and Poland, met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and Ukrainian President Zelensky in Brussels to discuss how Europe will adjust its defense policy to respond to Trump's return. On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed confidence that the U.S. and Europe will continue to support Ukraine after a telephone conversation with Trump. On the same day, Zelensky stated that European commitments to defend Ukraine are insufficient without U.S. involvement. Earlier this month, British senior security officials went to Washington to assess the plans of the elected president. They stated that although Trump still believes Ukraine should never become a NATO member and wants to immediately end the conflict, he also believes that providing weapons to Kiev after a ceasefire will ensure that "peace is achieved with strength." It is worth noting that NATO member countries have already begun discussions to raise the defense spending target to 3% of each country's GDP at the leadership summit in June next year, but many countries are still concerned about the difficult financial decisions needed to reach this target. This article is from "Wall Street View," written by Huang Wenwen, GMTEight, editor: Song Zhiying.