Spend More on Arms To Win Over Trump, Polish Minister Says
(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s defense minister has a warning to Europeans: US President Donald Trump will only listen to their views on Ukraine if they start investing seriously in their own security.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Billionaire Developer Caruso Slams LA Leadership Over Wildfires
How Sanctuary Cities Are Preparing for Another Showdown With Trump
Hoboken PATH Station Will Close for Almost a Month on Jan. 30
“The recipe is simple: more spending on defense, more investment in the military industry,” Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in an interview. Only then can Europe truly have a seat at the negotiating table, he said.
The impact of Russia’s war on Ukraine is strongly felt in neighboring Poland and across NATO’s eastern flank. Polish leaders have routinely echoed Kosiniak-Kamysz’s plea for the continent to boost defense spending. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Donald Tusk urged fellow members of the European Union to arm themselves in preparation for a more uncertain global order.
Trump, who took office this week, has ratcheted up demands for NATO allies to spend more. He said he expects at least 5% of their economic output to go to defense — more than twice the alliance’s current 2% benchmark. Although the US president has rankled NATO allies with his past criticism of the alliance, Russia’s war has forced some members to see merit in his increased demands. Poland is the only ally which comes close to meeting them.
In relative terms, the country is NATO’s top defense spender, followed by the Baltic States. Warsaw has earmarked a record 186.6 billion zloty ($46.4 billion) for defense this year, or 4.7% of economic output, up from 3.5% last year. That includes spending to replace military equipment donated to Ukraine.
That puts Warsaw in a good position to build ties with the new US administration, Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
Poland also takes the lead among European allies as the largest buyer of American military equipment, with a $60 billion portfolio of orders placed with US defense industry. That could also put the country in Trump’s good graces.
Last year, Poland signed a $1.2 billion agreement to produce 48 Patriot M903 launch stations and a $10 billion deal for 96 Apache helicopters. Warsaw has also ordered more than 350 Abrams tanks and 32 F-35 fighter jets to its arsenal, in a bid to replace old Soviet-era equipment mostly with US-made, NATO-standard weaponry.
Poland has also become the gateway for around 80% of Western humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, expanding the NATO presence on its territory. In 2023, the US set up a garrison in the western city of Poznan and now has 10,000 troops stationed in the country.
A European Approach
Raising the target for defense expenditure won’t only make Europe appear a credible and committed ally in Washington, said Kosiniak-Kamysz, but will spur economic growth at home through investment in arms manufacturing.
But that would require a new level of European coordination and a “radical shift” in leaders’ attitudes toward new approaches to finance military investments, he says. That could include policy changes within the EU, not just NATO.
For example, said the defense minister, the bloc could transfer unused post-pandemic recovery funds to the arms industry. “If we were able to afford taking debt to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, we must afford new spending to protect ourselves from war,” he said.
Kosiniak-Kamysz also proposed issuing joint EU debt to finance military spending, describing the current amount of €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) in the bloc’s defense fund as “simply shameful.”
Nevertheless, several European governments oppose joint borrowing for defense spending. Convincing them could be a hard sell.
For Poland, the war is right next door. For other NATO countries, it is several countries away. But Kosiniak-Kamysz stressed that the Kremlin’s aggression is not limited to Ukraine, pointing to Moscow’s support for the rulers of eastern Libya and outreach to Africa. Those could pose a threat to the stability of southern Europe, he argued.
“I think our partners from Italy or Spain have to be aware of this,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said. “Lack of investment in security doesn’t mean that there are no threats on their borders.”
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
The CDC Won’t Give the Public a Full Picture of Fertility Treatment Risks
How Kendrick Lamar Turned Beef With Drake Into Music Superstardom
©2025 Bloomberg L.P.