By the numbers: Russian threat boosts NATO defense spending

There's a clear trend in NATO members' defense budgets: the closer to Russia, the higher the spending.

In remarks made last week, United States presidential hopeful Donald Trump not only warned that he wouldn't protect countries that failed to meet NATO's defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP if they're attacked; he also threatened he would encourage Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to those countries.

Trump has frequently lambasted alliance members for spending too little, and on Saturday he labeled them "delinquent." Other U.S. presidents have also cajoled the allies to spend more — albeit in more diplomatic terms.

While several EU countries still fail to meet the NATO target — some spectacularly so — every country bordering Russia or Ukraine does meet it, according to NATO data. The U.S. and Greece also surpass that 2 percent threshold.

A comparison of NATO members' defense expenditures in 2014 — when the alliance set the 2 percent target — with their estimated spend in 2023 shows that almost all countries are setting aside more money for defense.

Poland, a front-line state bordering Russia, Ukraine and Russian ally Belarus, has seen the biggest spending leap, jumping from 1.9 percent of GDP in 2014 to 3.9 percent last year. That makes it the top spender per GDP among the 31 countries in NATO.