Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump is set to take center stage at the NATO Summit on Wednesday, after celebrating a new defense spending agreement and a ceasefire between Israel and Iran brokered with his involvement.
Trump is scheduled to meet with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and other world leaders before a press conference later in the day. He also said he would “probably” meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is attending the summit as Kyiv continues its campaign to join the Western alliance.
In text messages shared by Trump, Rutte praised the president for his leadership on multiple fronts.
“Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action on Iran. That was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do,” Rutte wrote, referencing the U.S.-led effort to secure a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran.
Rutte also thanked Trump for pushing NATO members to meet a new defense spending target.
“You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening,” Rutte added. “It makes us all safer.”
After years of criticism from Trump that NATO countries were not contributing their fair share, the alliance announced a new agreement to increase defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, up from the original 2 percent benchmark established in 2006. The new formula includes 3.5 percent for core defense capabilities and 1.5 percent for infrastructure, cyber operations and intelligence.
Trump signaled that the U.S. would not be expected to meet the full 5 percent threshold, a position that Rutte supported.
Despite the apparent unity over spending, Trump stopped short of reaffirming America’s commitment to NATO’s foundational mutual defense clause, Article 5.
“It depends on your definition,” Trump said when asked directly if he would uphold the clause. “There’s numerous definitions of Article 5, you know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends. I’ve become friends with many of those leaders, and I’m committed to helping them.”
His remarks come amid some concerns in Europe about whether the United States under Trump would honor the alliance’s collective defense obligations in the event of an attack.