House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is pledging to push all NATO members to spend at least 2% of their country's gross domestic product (GDP) on defense, but as of last year, fewer than half of the alliance's member states had reached that percentage level.

"Every NATO member needs to be spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. That's the agreement, that's the deal," Johnson said in remarks at the Hudson Institute think tank Monday.

Former President Donald Trump, as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, began calls for increased defense spending by NATO members during his time in the White House, and earlier this year sparked outrage when he suggested he would not protect member states that do not spend enough money on defense.

NATO Secretary Gen. Jens Stoltenberg, however, said in June that more than 20 NATO members will meet the alliance's 2% target this year, compared with fewer than 10 members five years ago, while Trump was still in office.

According to NATO figures, Poland, and the United States spent the most on defense, with Poland's spending at 3.9% of its GDP and the United States at 3.49%.

Including Poland and the United States, 11 nations were at or above the requested 2% of GDP spending in 2023:

• Greece, 3.01%.
• Estonia, 2.73%.
• Lithuania, 2.54%.
• Finland, 2.45%.
• Romania, 2.44%.
• Hungary, 2.43%.
• Latvia, 2.27%.
• United Kingdom, 2.07%.
• Slovakia, 2.03%.

However, 16 member states spent below the 2% guideline in 2023:

• France, 1.9%.
• Montenegro, 1.87%.
• North Macedonia, 1.87%.
• Bulgaria, 1.84%.
• Croatia, 1.79%.
• Albania, 1.76%.
• Netherlands, 1.7%.
• Norway, 1.67%.
• Denmark, 1.65%.
• Germany, 1.57%.
• Czech Republic, 1.5%.
• Portugal, 1.48%.
• Italy, 1.46%.
• Spain, 1.26%.
• Belgium, 1.13%.
• Luxembourg, 0.72%.

Only one nation, Iceland, is exempt from the spending requirements as it has no armed forces.

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