STORY: U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday (June 5) he was confident that members of the NATO alliance will sign up to Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June.

The U.S. president has said NATO allies should boost investment in defence to 5% of gross domestic product, up from the current target of 2%.

"To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags. You got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences. You need to be, keep combat ready capabilities," Hegseth said as he arrived at a gathering of NATO defence ministers in Brussels.

Diplomats have said European allies understand that hiking defence expenditure is the price of ensuring a continued U.S. commitment to the continent’s security and that keeping America on board means allowing Trump to be able to declare a win on his 5% demand during the summit, scheduled for June 24-25.

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VIDEO SHOWS: HEGSETH SPEAKING ABOUT NATO DEFENCE SPENDING

COMPLETE SCRIPT TO FOLLOW

SHOWS: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (JUNE 5, 2025) (NATO - Access all)

1. VARIOUS OF U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH ARRIVING

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY PETE HEGSETH SAYING:

To be an alliance, you got to be more than flags, you got to be formations. You got to be more than conferences, you need to be key combat-ready capabilities. So we're here to continue the work that President Trump started, which is a commitment to 5% defense spending across this alliance, which we think will happen, has to happen, by the summit at The Hague later this month."

3. NATO FLAGS