Since his first administration, President Donald Trump has stressed the need for U.S. allies to take on more of the burden to offset what he has said are decades of them taking advantage of the United States.

NATO defense ministers are set Thursday to approve plans to buy more weapons and military equipment to better defend Europe, the Arctic and the North Atlantic, as part of a U.S. push to ramp up security spending.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said he was confident that members of the NATO alliance would sign up to President Donald Trump's demand for a major boost in defence spending, adding that it had to happen by a summit later in June.