Much of the attention at this week's NATO summit in The Hague will likely be on US President Donald Trump, following the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend.

But ramping up defense spending, a major demand by Trump and his administration since day one, will also be in the spotlight. This goal has become potentially acceptable to almost all NATO countries thanks to the persuasive power of Secretary-General Mark Rutte, particularly after Germany, the biggest European economy, threw its weight behind it.

Officials at NATO told DW that it's about giving Trump a win but also "about rebalancing in the alliance," as one senior diplomat put it, stressing that if that's achieved, the summit would be a resounding success.

"Hopefully, Trump is not going to leave early like he did from the recent G7 meeting in Canada," Jamie Shea, a former NATO official, told DW. This worst-case scenario is a big concern for some NATO allies and something they want to avoid at any price.

Shea said he thinks "it's important for Trump to be there to learn about all of the good things that NATO is doing at the moment, which help America's security and not just Europe's security."

The goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense, expected to be approved at the summit in The Hague this week, is highly ambitious, and has the potential to transform societies in Europe. In many EU countries, social justice and economic stability were the........

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