President Trump left on Tuesday morning for the annual meeting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) at The Hague, Netherlands. His departure came shortly after his announcement of a ceasefire in the military conflict between Israel and Iran.
Trump’s goals at the NATO summit include increasing defense spending among the leaders of European countries. As he traveled to the summit, Trump received strong praise from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, both for his efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Iran conflict and for his anticipated accomplishments with the countries of NATO.
In a Truth Social post, Trump shared a message from Rutte, congratulating him for success on both fronts.
“Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, this was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer,” Rutte said.
He continued by commending Trump for reaching his goals on NATO defense spending, which have been agreed upon by the member countries and are expected to be finalized at the summit.
“You are flying into another big success at The Hague this evening,” Rutte said. “It was not easy but we got them all signed on to 5 percent,” Rutte said in reference to the member nations agreeing to contribute five percent of their gross domestic product to defense spending.
Rutte continued by highlighting the significance of Trump’s progress on NATO defense spending and pointing out that it was an accomplishment no other American President had been able to reach.
“Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world,” Rutte said. “You will achieve something NO American President in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.”
President Trump is expected to meet with other world leaders and return to the White House on Wednesday.
