BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO chief Mark Rutte congratulated Donald Trump on Wednesday for being elected president of the United States, and emphasised that members were increasing their military spending, a response to a persistent Trump criticism of the Western alliance.

"I just congratulated Donald Trump on his election as President of the United States. His leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong. I look forward to working with him again to advance peace through strength through NATO," Rutte said in a post on social media platform X.

In the past, Trump has been critical of NATO, accusing European members of spending too little on defence. During his election campaign he repeatedly said the U.S. would help protect NATO members from a future attack by Russia only if European members spent more.

In a longer statement, Rutte said that "two-thirds of Allies now spend at least 2% of their GDP on defence, and defence spending and production are on an onward trajectory across the Alliance".

He added that "through NATO, the U.S. has 31 friends", while pointing out the challenges the military alliance is facing, referring among others to "the increasing alignment of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran".

"Working together through NATO helps to deter aggression, protect our collective security, and support our economies", he said.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Alison Williams and Peter Graff)