U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte briefed reporters on Thursday following a NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels. Before answering questions, Hegseth told NATO members that they must increase their defense spending from the current 2% of annual GDP.

Two percent is a start, as President Trump has said, but it’s not enough, nor is 3%, nor is 4% — more like 5%,” the defense secretary said in a speech in Brussels.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's attention-grabbing overseas debut may have irritated some key Republicans and alienated allies in Europe, where his statements on Ukraine and NATO went down like a lead balloon.