Trump heads to NATO as tensions simmer with Europe

WASHINGTON— As NATO members gather in Türkiye’s capital for their annual meeting, European leaders are preparing for a tumultuous summit with President Trump this week.

European diplomats see Trump’s decision to join as a positive sign of his continued commitment to the alliance. But the president’s grievances over the refusal of many European governments to join the US war with Iran cast a shadow over the summit, which was already tense because of Trump’s hesitant support for the continent.

Mark Rutte, secretary general of the transatlantic alliance, told reporters on Monday: Trump expressed his anger in a recent phone interview. But Rutte responded with the flattery and countervailing facts that have occupied Trump so far.

Trump accused European leaders of denying US forces access to allied bases for takeoff and refueling during the war, while Rutte noted that nearly 5,000 sorties in support of Operation Epic Fury were launched from European airfields. And last Friday, France and the UK committed to: Joint military mission with Oman Rutte said supporting freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz was “an extremely important development.”

At a summit in The Hague last year, all NATO member states except Spain agreed to spend 5% of their GDP on defense by 2035; this marked a significant increase in historic spending targets for modern Europe. Commitment falls into two categories; 3.5 percent of spending is allocated to basic military needs, and the rest is allocated to a wide array of security-related investments.

“I think Trump’s tough love for the alliance is to bring NATO closer together,” the Secretary-General told reporters.

“You could argue that he is the first US president since Eisenhower to be in a position where Europeans and Canadians will spend the same money on security as Americans,” Rutte said. “This equalization has been a wish for 50, 60 years, and now it’s coming true, I think in large part because of his leadership.”

In a video message posted on social media on Monday, Trump’s NATO Ambassador Matthew Whitaker said this week’s summit will serve as a “report card” to determine whether countries have begun to meet their commitments from last year.

He sounded a note of optimism, suggesting that the president’s goal was to strengthen the alliance rather than weaken it.

“The United States will be here, but we need our allies to be here, too. We can’t do this alone, and American taxpayers should no longer bear this burden,” Whitaker said.

The White House schedule for Trump’s trip includes bilateral meetings with Rutte and the leaders of Türkiye, Syria and Ukraine, among alliance-wide dinners and conferences.

Trump told reporters Monday that Ukraine will remain high on the agenda and expressed hope that the war could soon end after four years of brutal conflict.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the greatest loss of life in Europe since World War II, resulting in more than 1 million casualties, including an estimated 600,000 dead. Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in 2022 after secretly occupying Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and eastern regions in 2014, Russian forces have captured about 12% of Ukrainian territory.

In 2023, the war fell into a deadly stalemate as a Ukrainian counter-offensive failed to break Russian defensive lines. Although Russian forces occasionally advanced, they managed to make only marginal gains on the front, albeit at enormous cost.

But in recent weeks, Ukraine’s growing drone and missile capabilities have shifted dynamic, striking military production sites deep within Russia and targets near Moscow, bringing the war more directly into the Russian public consciousness and raising questions about whether the war effort in Russia’s capital is sustainable.

Ukraine’s courage impressed the Trump administration and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. he told the Financial Times This week.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office before leaving for Türkiye on Monday, Trump said of Putin, “I think he feels the pressure.”

The president touched on U.S. efforts to end the war, an elusive goal for Trump since he returned to office.

“According to me We’re getting much closer “It’s a lot more than people realize,” he said. “President Putin wants this to end, I’ll tell you that. It’s very powerful. I had a good meeting. And President Zelensky actually wants this to end now.”

“We’re going to go to NATO and talk about it,” Trump added. “And I think we’ll put an end to this. It was terrible.”