The United States is one of only five members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that meets the recommended defense spending rate, alarming experts according to The Daily Signal.
NATO members are expected to spend a minimum of 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense, but only the U.S., Greece, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Poland have reached that target. Even economically powerful states like France and Germany, have spent less than their share.
"This has been a demand from the U.S. for a long time, except now there is a new sheriff in town and his using of words is just different," Andras Simonyi, former ambassador to the U.S. and to NATO for Hungary, told the Daily Signal.
"The choice of words may not be good, but if the Europeans think they can continue to live in a dream world where the U.S. is the ultimate protector, and Europe isn't really doing as much as it should or could to defend itself, there will come a point where the U.S. says enough is enough."
President Donald Trump has publicly questioned America's commitment to NATO, telling The Times of London that the organization is "obsolete" and "very unfair to the United States," only days before his inauguration.
The U.S. spends the most on defense of any NATO nation at $650 billion in 2016, more than double what the other 27 states spent.
"There's already recognition among leaders in the European Union that countries need to do more [on defense]," Phil Finnegan, a defense analyst for the Teal Group, told CNBC.
Germany, which spends 1.2 percent of its GDP on defense, recently vowed to reach the spending target, as did Romania. Russia is expected to lower defense spending in the next few years, according to IHS Jane's analyst Craig Caffrey.
"We expect the Russian defense budget to fall again next year and it will sit below France in the No. 7 position by 2020, based on current plans, with a total defense budget of $41.4 billion," he told CNBC.
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