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The first reactions can be heard from German politicians to President-elect Donald Trump’s statement that NATO countries should spend five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz is cautious. “In the budget we are pretty far away from two percent. And the two percent, the three or the five percent are basically irrelevant. What is crucial is that we do what is necessary to defend ourselves,” says the CDU Chairwoman of the radio station Bayern 2. Just to achieve the two percent target in the federal budget, at least 30 billion euros more would have to be spent. “So I recommend that we first achieve what we have set as a goal together, namely at least two percent. That alone will be a great effort,” says Merz.

The FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann considers Trump’s demands to be excessive – but also calls for higher defense spending. “We shouldn’t be fooled by every statement Trump makes. We are not at a bazaar here,” the MEP told the Editorial Network Germany (RND). However, the USA rightly expected that NATO members would spend more money on defense, said Strack-Zimmermann. The current editions are not sufficient, but one should not “just put a number in the room with the help of a thumb”. So far, the partner countries are supposed to invest two percent of their GDP in defense.

The chairman of the Defense Committee, Marcus Faber, also told the RND: “The 32 NATO states will have to agree on a new common minimum beyond the two percent target.” But that would be “more like three percent than five percent. And that will be decided by consensus,” emphasized Faber.

SPD foreign policy expert Ralf Stegner called the five percent target “complete madness.” “We don’t need more weapons in the world, we need fewer,” he told the news portal Politico. “Then you could also abolish democracy directly if you no longer need democratic majorities for the defense budget.”

Defense spending was already a central point of contention during Trump’s first term in office. At that time, the Republican threatened that the USA would withdraw from NATO if the partner countries did not fulfill their obligation and invest at least two percent of GDP in defense.