President Donald Trump has publicly criticized NATO member countries regarding the imbalance in defense spending. He has used social media to highlight the large gap between how much the U.S. spends compared to its allies.

川普總統公開批評北約成員國在國防支出方面不平衡。他利用社交媒體強調美國的支出與盟友之間存在巨大差距。

The current tension started with comments from President Trump, who described the U.S. contribution to NATO as a one-sided payment. He mentioned that the U.S. spent $999 billion, while countries like the UK, France, Italy, and Poland spent much less, and emphasized that Germany's spending was significantly lower. However, NATO reports show that these numbers are total national defense budgets, not the specific payments made to the alliance's shared budget. Furthermore, the U.S. total includes costs for nuclear weapons and operations in the Indo-Pacific, which are not related to NATO obligations.

目前的緊張局勢始於川普總統的言論，他將美國對北約的貢獻描述為一種單方面的支付。他提到美國支出 9,990 億美元，而英國、法國、義大利與波蘭等國家的支出則少得多，並強調德國的支出顯著較低。然而，北約報告顯示，這些數字是國家國防總預算，而非支付給聯盟共同預算的特定金額。此外，美國的總額包含了核武以及在印太地區的行動成本，這些與北約的義務無關。

Despite these arguments, allies are increasing their spending. Due to pressure from the U.S. and the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, all 32 members now spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense. At the 2025 Hague summit, members agreed to aim for 5% GDP investment by 2035. Secretary General Mark Rutte admitted that the alliance relied too much on U.S. military power in the past, which supports the American argument about sharing the burden.

儘管有這些爭論，盟友們正在增加支出。由於美國的壓力以及俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭的影響，目前所有 32 個成員國的國防支出均至少佔 GDP 的 2%。在 2025 年海牙峰會上，成員國同意目標是在 2035 年前將 GDP 投資提高到 5%。秘書長 Mark Rutte 承認，聯盟過去過於依賴美國的軍事力量，這支持了美國關於分擔負擔的論點。

Strategically, the claim that the U.S. gets no benefit from NATO is not true in practice. The U.S. uses important bases and flight paths across Europe to move its military globally, which was very helpful during the 2024 defense of Israel. Additionally, the alliance protects a trade relationship worth about $2 trillion per year. While allies did not join the war in Iran because it was outside NATO's defensive goals, they still provided air defense and base support. Meanwhile, German officials, such as Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, have rejected demands for total obedience, asserting that decisions must be based on agreement rather than orders from one country.

從戰略上來看，美國從北約中沒有獲益的說法在實踐中並不成立。美國利用歐洲重要的基地與飛行路徑將軍隊部署至全球，這在 2024 年防禦以色列期間非常有幫助。此外，該聯盟保護著每年價值約 2 兆美元的貿易關係。雖然盟友因為伊朗戰爭不在北約防禦目標之內而未參與，但他們仍提供了防空與基地支援。與此同時，德國官員（例如國防部長 Boris Pistorius）拒絕了完全服從的要求，主張決定必須基於共識而非單一國家的命令。

The U.S. continues to push for higher spending from its allies, while European leaders want to keep the alliance strong through a system of mutual support.

美國繼續要求盟友增加支出，而歐洲領導人則希望透過互助體系維持聯盟強大。