Washington: The Trump administration is poised to ratchet up pressure on Australia and other Indo-Pacific allies to increase defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP after being emboldened by an agreement from its NATO partners.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told this masthead: “If our allies in Europe and our NATO allies can do it, I think our allies and our friends in the Indo-Pacific region can do it as well.” She said she would leave discussions of specific countries to the president.
The administration has already asked Australia to lift defence spending to 3.5 per cent from a projected 2.33 per cent by 2033, something the government says it is assessing. But the NATO decision makes it more difficult for Australia and other partners, such as Japan, to refuse.
“The developments at NATO suggest that the president and his team will be very keen that allies in the Indo-Pacific region follow a similar pattern in a commitment to increase defence expenditure,” said Arthur Sinodinos, a former Australian ambassador to the US, who is now at The Asia Group and co-chair of the AUKUS Forum, a group for AUKUS-related businesses.