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Matt Whitaker emphasised that his role would be pushing member states to meet Trump’s demand for increased defence spending, now raised to 5% of GDP.
ADVERTISEMENTUS President Donald Trump’s nominee for NATO ambassador sought to reassure senators during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that the administration’s support for the military alliance remained “ironclad”.Matthew Whitaker, who previously served as acting attorney general during Trump’s first term, told senators that a key aspect of his role would be to press NATO’s 32 member states to meet Trump’s demand for increased defence spending.Trump has rattled the alliance during his campaign by stating that Russia should “do whatever the hell it wants” to NATO members that fail to meet their military spending obligations.He has also downplayed the threat posed by Russia and threatened to withdraw US support for Ukraine in its ongoing battle against Moscow’s forces.Following Trump’s tense exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House last week, European NATO members have been reassessing their defence commitments while maintaining that there is no intention to detach from the United States.However, the US president’s envoy to NATO said there was no reason for concern among the allies.“President Trump has been clear, the United States remains committed to NATO and to the principle of peace through strength,” Whitaker said in his opening statement on Tuesday.During the hearing, Whitaker, a former lawyer, avoided directly addressing questions from Democratic senators regarding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. When asked whether he agreed that Russia initiated the war by invading Ukraine, he pointed to a statement by Vice President JD Vance affirming that position.However, Whitaker expressed strong support for NATO and its Article 5, which commits all member states to treat an attack on one as an attack on all.“It will be ironclad,” he stated before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.Successive US administrations have criticised European allies and Canada for their heavy reliance on the United States within NATO, but Trump has gone further, openly questioning the alliance’s value to Washington.NATO leaders argue that Trump’s earlier criticism, coupled with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has prompted most member states to meet the alliance’s defence spending target of at least 2% of GDP.Trump has since raised the bar, demanding that NATO states contribute 5% of their GDP to defence.Democratic senators at the hearing pointed out that the US currently spends around 3.4% of its GDP on its military, while NATO members closest to Russia, such as Poland, allocate an even higher share, with Poland spending 4%.ADVERTISEMENTWhitaker framed securing NATO allies’ compliance with Trump’s 5% target as a key priority in his role.“I have no concern that our European allies and Canada can do more and want to do more,” he stated. “I fully expect they will do what’s necessary to continue to make NATO the strongest alliance ever in the history of the planet.”In November, Trump nominated Whitaker for the NATO post, stating his pick was “a strong warrior and loyal patriot, who will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended.”
