President Donald Trump on Wednesday, 8 July declared that a dramatic rise in NATO defence spending was driving a manufacturing boom across the United States, as European allies accelerate purchases of American-made weapons and major US defence contractors scale up production capacity to meet what Trump called unprecedented global demand. Trump made the remarks at a news conference following the NATO summit in Ankara.

Key Developments at the Ankara Summit

Trump said NATO member states had adopted a new benchmark of spending five per cent of GDP on defence, a threshold he described as a historic turning point for the US defence industry. He credited the commitment with unlocking a surge in allied procurement. 'As a result of the commitment we achieved last year, defence spending of other NATO members surged by almost $150 billion in 2025, and much of that money is being spent on American-made equipment,' Trump said.

The President also announced $3 billion in new defence investment agreements unveiled at the summit, spanning missile systems, drone technology, and sustainment infrastructure across Europe.

What US Defence Companies Are Building

Trump named Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, and Northrop Grumman as among the manufacturers expanding production after years of running round-the-clock shifts to fill orders. He said he had pushed companies to build new facilities rather than rely on overtime. 'I said, that’s not the way to do it. You have to build more plants,' he said.

Specific deals announced at the summit include Lockheed Martin establishing a Patriot missile sustainment facility in Europe, Northrop Grumman proceeding with the sale of advanced American drone technology, a partnership between Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall to produce Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS), and Anduril manufacturing its new Barracuda missile system for Poland.

Trump's Claims on Production Timelines

Trump projected that the current backlog for major weapons systems — which he said currently runs to a year or two — would shrink sharply within 18 months. 'We think within a year, year and a half, max, instead of waiting for a year or two years, we’ll be having it on a two-week wait, maybe a one-week wait,' he said. He added that some manufacturers were building as many as three, four or five new production facilities, which he said would 'quadruple the output' of missiles, munitions, and other military systems.

Jobs and Economic Argument

Trump framed the defence spending surge primarily as an economic and employment story for the United States. 'I think all of these agreements directly benefit the US defence industry base and what it really does is… jobs,' he said. He projected that the alliance would collectively channel over $1 trillion a year toward defence, and argued that allied governments preferred American-built equipment because, in his words, 'it works better.'

This comes amid a broader transatlantic debate over burden-sharing that has defined US-NATO relations for years. The five-per-cent GDP target marks a significant escalation from the previous two-per-cent benchmark, and its adoption signals a structural shift in European defence posture — one that, if sustained, would make the US defence industrial base a primary beneficiary. Whether the production expansion Trump described materialises on the timelines he cited will be closely watched by both allied governments and defence investors.