- One of the Baltic nations on the border with Russia supports Trump’s call for members to spend 5% of GDP on defense.
- Estonia’s foreign minister told BI his country would meet that target, but not because of Trump.
- Estonia has been pioneering in supporting Ukraine and urging other members to boost defense spending.
A NATO ally sharing a border with Russia is glad to see US President Donald Trump pushing alliance members to spend more on defense. The country’s foreign minister says this is a significant need, considering the threats from Moscow.
Estonia, an EU member nation and one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, is going to be boosting its own spending, but not simply to satisfy Trump. Margus Tsahkna, the Estonian foreign minister, told Business Insider that his country would start spending 5% of its GDP on defense because of “real needs.”
Trump announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last month that he wants NATO allies to dramatically increase defense spending from the previous goal of 2% to 5% of their GDP. There have been reports he would accept 3.5%, which is close to what the US spends now. Some nations, however, are still below original expectations.
Estonia and Lithuania, both Baltic states, told the Financial Times after the event that they would increase spending.
Tsahkna told BI that Estonia has “been increasing our defense spending over the years.” He added that Trump is “asking the right thing” and that he has long agreed with the US president that more NATO members should spend more on defense.
Roberto Schmidt / AFP via Getty Images
Kęstutis Budrys, Lithuania’s foreign minister, told the Financial Times last month that Trump was applying “good and constructive pressure from our strategic and biggest ally in NATO” but said Trump’s pressure on the alliance wasn’t the only reason his country was making changes.
“It’s not the sole reason,” the minister said, explaining that “it is existential for us to have real war-fighting capabilities here.”
NATO nations near Russia tend to spend more on their defense. For instance, Poland, the highest spender on defense in NATO as a proportion of GDP, said last year, before Trump’s comments, that it would spend 5% of GDP on defense in 2025.
Estonia hadn’t previously committed to this goal, but the head of the Estonian Defense Forces and its defense minister both floated the possibility last year. The country’s defense spending has soared over the years. In 2024, it spent around 3.4% of its GDP on defense, a bit higher than the US. It has been a pioneer in asking other allies to pay more, pushing for the 2% guideline to be raised higher.
Some NATO allies, including Italy, Canada, and Spain, spend less than 2%. That has long been a frequent source of criticism for Trump, who suggested on the campaign trail he would abandon nations that didn’t pay their fair share to Russia.
Realities of the Russian threat
Many NATO allies have notably increased their defense spending in recent years, but Russian aggression rather than Trump’s pressuring of allies appears to be the driving factor, as experts and officials previously told BI.
Estonia’s spending boost “all comes from the real needs,” Tsahkna said.
“We face them,” he said of the Russians, adding that his country won’t allow itself to be defenseless. He said that Estonia does not plan to cede “any meter of NATO territory” to Russia and must build the strongest deterrence while also being “ready to act from the first second.”
Estonia, along with neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, have long warned Russia threatens the West, even before Ukraine launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. By that point, Russia had invaded neighboring Georgia and Ukraine already.
AP Photo/Mykola Tys
Where Tsahkna and Trump diverge is on Ukraine. Estonia is one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, giving Ukraine more aid as a proportion of its GDP than any other country and advocating that partner nations give it all the weaponry and support they can.
Former President Joe Biden supported Ukraine but held back on providing certain types of equipment. Trump, however, has signaled he simply wants an end to the war and has previously been critical of US support for Ukraine. Trump has also questioned US support for NATO.
But Tsahkna sees Trump’s NATO spending push as a positive.
“The border states cannot only carry the burden,” he said, referring to his country and its neighbors. He said many NATO members’ spending is not presently rooted in “reality.”
More work to do
Tsahkna said it is fair to ask countries to spend as a percentage of their GDP, calling it an “honest figure.” The figure “measures how much your economy, society, your people are paying,” he said. “It doesn’t matter that you’re a smaller or bigger country.”
Estonia has a population of just 1.4 million people — roughly 257 times smaller than the US and 60 times smaller than Germany. While it spends proportionately on defense, the impact on NATO’s abilities is smaller. But it makes a big impact in its warnings on what NATO is facing from Russia.
Spending money on defense, Tsahkna said, “is something we have to face.” Countries should not make excuses, he said, adding that everyone’s budget is tight.
To meet its objectives, Estonia has cut public spending and raised taxes. Last month, its parliament adopted a new defense tax that will last until December 2028. He said the people are willing to pay because they remember life under the Soviet Union.
“We still remember how it was to live without freedom,” he said.
Russia has repeatedly threatened to attack the West, and many countries have warned that an attack could come. As is, some already see war underway. Russia has been accused of carrying out hybrid attacks, like arson and assassination attempts, in Europe.
Tsahkna said that he has observed a “change of mentality” in Europe over the last few years. “They’re taking the Russian threat very seriously and also understand as well that Russia will remain a threat in the future as well,” he said, but the continent needs to bolster its industries and strengthen its defenses.
