Donald Trump ‘completely committed’ to NATO – but has 1 ‘expectation’ | World | News
Donald Trump is “fully committed” to NATO but has an “expectation”, the defense alliance’s Secretary General has declared. At the summit in Ankara, Mark Rutte was asked whether he sees Trump as a committed member of NATO and whether he takes seriously the US president’s threat to withdraw US troops from Europe and seize Greenland.
he said Sky News: “It is fully committed. The United States has a full commitment to NATO, but there was an expectation and there is still an expectation to some extent.” This coincided with NATO leaders gathering in the Turkish capital Ankara for the second day of a major summit.
He continued: “So this commitment is there, no doubt, because it is in the US interest for NATO to prevent, for example, Russian nuclear submarines from landing on US shores.
“The United States needs a secure Atlantic, Europe and the Arctic to remain secure. So there is a full commitment to NATO.”
But he said, “There was, and still is, an expectation that Europeans and Canadians would equalize their spending with the United States.”
He added: “Now the good news is that that’s the big win today; a loss for Putin, a gain for President Trump; the Europeans and Canadians are doing just that.”
During the visit, meanwhile, Mr. Trump criticized NATO allies and singled out European countries he deemed unsupportive during the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Arriving in the Turkish capital on Tuesday, Trump criticized allied countries for their lack of support for the United States during the Iran conflict.
He also noted that he might have missed the meeting entirely had it not been for his close relationship with the host, Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on NATO allies to strengthen support for Ukraine’s air defense systems following Russia’s deadly concentration on Kiev.
Speaking in Ankara, he said Ukraine had signed new agreements with Estonia, the Netherlands, and Denmark aimed at enhancing military cooperation. Meanwhile, the five NATO member states are expected to achieve the alliance’s target of allocating 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product to core defense spending as early as 2026.
