NATO Chief Faces Challenge At Summit As Trump Demands ‘Loyalty’ And Not Just Burden-Sharing

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Since taking office as NATO secretary-general almost two years ago, Mark Rutte has spent much of his time trying to keep the United States committed to the world’s largest military alliance and openly pandering to deter the U.S. President. Donald Trump To stop acting on threats.

But the goalposts keep shifting and the stakes are rising ahead of this week’s match summit in Türkiye.

In the beginning it was about money. Trump has long chastised NATO allies for spending too small a share of their national budgets on defense. But these problems were eventually resolved. last year’s summitWhen U.S. allies commit to invest as much as America in terms of gross domestic product.

NATO’s main challenge now is to turn that money into military capabilities, especially at a time when European countries are worried. possible attack from Russia.

Still, Rutte sought to allay lingering concerns. White House meeting Last month, a new presentation was made using a graphic labeled “Trump Trillion” written in gold letters, showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.

But Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed that some NATO allies had refused to join. Iran warHe launched it near Israel without consulting Israel.

“We don’t need their money, we don’t need anything,” Trump said. “I just want loyalty.”

Trump says he might skip upcoming summit altogether if it wasn’t hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s a sign that even Erdogan and Rutte, foreign leaders for whom Trump has rare respect, will have their work cut out for them to keep the summit on track.

Historically, the primary task of NATO’s top civilian official (always European, never American) has been to promote consensus and speak on behalf of all 32 member nations in an organization that makes its decisions by consensus.

But during both of Trump’s terms, Rutte and his predecessor at NATO helm, Jens Stoltenberg, devoted a great deal of energy to keeping the United States within their alliances.

Trump threatened to leave NATO US troop withdrawal He vowed to take control of Europe and the island Greenland – a semi-autonomous part of allied Denmark. Casts doubt on whether he would defend another member spending It erodes enough trust in their military.

Rutte’s approach was dominated by flattery. The carefully choreographed scene in the Oval Office last month, with props reminiscent of the American flag, set a new mark even for a man heavily criticized for likening Trump to Trump. a “father”

Rutte said the graphs showed tens of thousands of jobs created in the United States and a $300 billion backlog in European orders for military equipment, all thanks to “the leader of the free world.”

gently pushed back Trump’s complaints He stated that NATO did not support the USA against Iran, and pointed out that before the ceasefire in April, about 5,000 US planes took off from bases in Europe.

NATO cannot function without its largest and most powerful ally. Europe is forced to do this take care of yourself Russia, which is the historical reason for the alliance, poses a greater threat.

Last month, the Pentagon surprised its NATO allies by announcing that scaling back The number of soldiers, warships, planes and unmanned aerial vehicles it would provide if one of them were attacked. Trump also sent conflicting messages about whether US troop numbers would be reduced.

Disruptions and mixed messages have undermined unity in the alliance, as has Russia We investigate the defense of Europe Drone flights are being conducted near military bases in multiple countries, according to a study published Thursday.

Each summit aims to demonstrate commitment to collective security; Article 5 The NATO agreement was invoked only once, when allies came to America’s aid after the September 11 attacks.

The last NATO summit was held in The Hague, the hometown of former Dutch prime minister Rutte. The Dutch royal family hosted dinner and Trump spent the night at the king’s palace.

Rutte pledges big defense spending to allies and Trump leaves a happy manHe describes NATO partners as “a nice bunch of people.”

This year, another important member of NATO, Erdoğan, will host the summit. with an independent line. His close ties to Trump may keep the American president at the table, but that is unlikely to heal the rifts.

Rutte tried to convince Trump that his European partners were spending much more and could safely turn America’s attention to security problems. put forward by China While directing the war in Ukraine.

But Trump now wants more, and his demand for “loyalty” is hard to capture in any graph.

Rutte’s predecessor Stoltenberg wrote in his memoirs: Presiding over the 2018 summit Trump nearly turned it upside down.

“If an American president says he no longer wants to defend his other allies and leaves the NATO summit in protest, then the NATO agreement and its security guarantee are of little value,” Stoltenberg wrote.