According to the publication, the meeting was tense. Rutte planned the visit as a “life support mission” for NATO after Trump's threats to withdraw the United States from the alliance.
A European official told the media that everything went “shit” (the publication's interlocutor used the idiom “it went shit” to describe the situation), the conversation was “nothing more than a tirade of insults,” Trump threatened “anything.”
He and other interlocutors noted that the American president had made it clear to Rutte that he was considering options for repression, but did not go into detail. Those present also got the impression that he wants concrete action from the allies to open the Strait of Hormuz as quickly as possible. However, a White House spokesman said Trump does not have any expectations for the alliance.
NATO Speaker Allison Hart, in a comment to Politico, noted that Rutte and Trump “had a very frank conversation,” but denied claims that it went poorly. Hart called it “constructive.”
A second European official told the publication that despite the appearance of a contentious meeting, Rutte's visit was timely because it allowed Trump to “blow off some steam.” According to media interlocutors, the US President’s posts on Truth Social after the meeting with the NATO Secretary General were general, “did not contain any specific threats of action” aimed at punishing NATO or its individual members, and were also milder than previous comments.
Rutte himself, after a visit to the White House, expressed the opinion that Trump was clearly “disappointed” with many NATO allies due to, in his opinion, insufficient support for the United States and Israel in the war against Iran. At the same time, he called the meeting “a frank and open conversation between two good friends.”
Context
Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO allies and called the Alliance itself a “paper tiger.” Tensions between the United States and NATO began with Greenland: Trump sought to gain control over Greenland, which, according to him, China and the aggressor country of the Russian Federation want to seize. Instead, a number of European countries sent their military to the island and were allegedly ready to resist America’s plans.
Against the backdrop of a lack of support regarding Greenland and operations against Iran, Washington announced the possibility of the United States leaving NATO.
CNN reported that NATO members were puzzled by Trump's harsh statements. The Alliance emphasizes that NATO is defensive in nature and is not obliged to participate in US and Israeli operations. At the same time, the allies emphasize that the principle of collective defense under Art. 5 applies only in the event of an attack on a NATO member country.
In the US Senate, not everyone supports the idea of weakening or leaving the country from NATO. In particular, two influential senators – Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware and Republican Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – issued a joint statement in support of the Alliance, noting its key role in ensuring the security of the United States and its allies.
