 But upgrades are expensive, and it was a decade-long grind to get some allies to fulfill the pledge they made in 2014 to spend at least 2% of their GDP on their own militaries by this year. NATO leaders will be prominently highlighting at the summit that 23 of the 32 countries have finally achieved that. This scorecard is especially important in case Donald Trump retakes the White House, having promised to withdraw from NATO and cut off aid to Ukraine.