Days ago, President Donald Trump threatened Spain with new tariffs unless Madrid increases its defense spending to 5% of its GDP. Whether this tactic proves effective remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the president has been even more effective than during his first term when it comes to getting other countries to meet their commitments. This fact has been most prominent when it comes to defense spending.
In 2006, America’s NATO allies agreed to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. After several years of little progress, the Obama administration reached an updated agreement in 2014 that everyone would achieve this goal by 2024. But when Trump first came to power in 2017, only five of 28 countries had achieved that goal.
At the time, the President and his national security team, including myself, pushed our allies hard to meet their commitments. By 2021, the number of NATO members meeting had doubled and allied military spending had increased significantly.
President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a press conference after the NATO summit on June 25, 2025 in The Hague, Netherlands. The agenda of the summit included a new defense investment plan that increased the target for defense spending to 5% of GDP. (Omar Havana/Getty Images)
Fast forward to 2025. Aided by the ongoing war in Ukraine and European fear of Vladimir Putin, Trump managed to accomplish what many thought impossible: convince our NATO allies to spend as much as 5% of their GDP on defense!
On the economic front, the White House has similarly convinced other countries to comply with past commitments when it comes to trade, using tariffs and other tools where necessary. This should become clearer when it comes to future trade negotiations with China.
The communist state has violated its obligations and reneged on countless agreements for decades, from the theft of intellectual property to currency manipulation and the unfair subsidization of Chinese companies. During Trump’s first term, for example, the People’s Republic of China never bought the $200 billion in additional U.S. exports it had promised.
China may be the most notorious country when it comes to breaches of obligations, but it is not the only country. Many American friends are also guilty, especially when it comes to deals with American companies. I have seen this during my own time in the private sector.
This is such a problem that the House Appropriations Committee recently wrote in the August report of its fiscal year 2026 spending bill for national security, the Department of State, and related programs that it “continues to be concerned about reports of commercial disputes between U.S. entities and host governments….”
The committee noted “particular concern” over “disputes over real estate seized, held or expropriated by foreign governments.” The report even went so far as to call out the governments of the “Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Honduras, Kuwait and Mexico.”
Mexican state oil company Permex reportedly owes US contractors $1.2 billion. Kuwait is reportedly accused of failing to pay the US for its financial obligations – including for its Al Zour refinery, one of the largest oil refinery projects in the Middle East – where it has allegedly left the US and other contractors unpaid.
And according to the State Department, many U.S. companies operating in Honduras have “expressed concerns about politically motivated threats of criminal prosecution and expropriation of private assets.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to the media at Ben Gurion International Airport as he departs Tel Aviv for Qatar after an official visit, near Lod, Israel, September 16, 2025. (Nathan Howard/pool photo via AP)
The committee concluded its report by directing Secretary of State Marco Rubio to “use the various tools of diplomatic engagement to…facilitate the timely resolution of such disputes.” Such action, of course, starts with American diplomats abroad.
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U.S. ambassadors already dealing with such issues in foreign capitals should pressure their host governments at all levels. That includes those nominated to the Senate for such assignments — starting with Amer Ghalib, who testified at a hearing Thursday that he would be America’s next ambassador to Kuwait (currently the only vacant post on the House committee’s call list).
Furthermore, a separate hearing in Congress on the broader issue of foreign governments reportedly rolling back their agreements with U.S. companies would also be quite helpful.
The administration has rightly talked about protecting American jobs, preserving American innovation and ensuring fairness when it comes to global trade and business. We have seen the president’s team act on these instincts. And given the business backgrounds of many in government, they certainly appreciate the challenges American companies face in addressing business disputes with foreign governments.
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Just as the President did this year in getting our NATO allies to meet their spending commitments when it comes to strengthening the alliance, applying the same focus and energy to helping American companies resolve their disputes with foreign governments would go a long way toward helping American businesses and workers.
If our allies and friends want the benefits of a partnership with the United States, they must also fulfill their obligations – to our country, our companies and our workers. That’s another great way to put America first and promote U.S. economic growth and prosperity.
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