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Trump slams Europe in meeting with Rutte ahead of NATO summit
US President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House. Trump criticized European allies for not supporting the war against Iran, while Rutte highlighted increases in defense spending.
US President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House. During the meeting, Trump reiterated his displeasure that European countries had not supported the US-Israel war against Iran.
"We didn't need any help on this. We literally annihilated them in the first week," Trump said, while still expressing that it would have been good for European allies to offer assistance.
Rutte stresses defense spending
At the beginning of the meeting, Rutte presented a series of charts showing the increased defense spending of NATO members. He also praised US attacks on Iran, describing Trump as the "leader of the free world."
"Iran's nuclear capability, which it was achieving, would have posed a threat to the region and the entire world. This country exports chaos and terrorism," Rutte said.
Debate on the role of bases and 'isolated incidents'
The NATO Secretary-General argued that European allies had contributed to the war in other ways. Noting that four to five thousand US aircraft had taken off from bases in Europe during the six weeks of the war, Rutte said, "Generally speaking, your European allies were with you."
Stating that he understood Trump's frustration, Rutte suggested these were "isolated incidents" and did not represent the NATO alliance. Trump, however, did not appear swayed by this argument.
Critical meeting ahead of Ankara summit
Rutte's visit to the Oval Office took place roughly two weeks before NATO's annual summit set for July 7 in Turkey's capital Ankara. While Rutte is known to be sympathetic toward Trump, critics view this visit as an attempt to appease the US president.
In the meeting, Trump praised Rutte as a "great man, great leader, great secretary-general," adding, "If someone else were in this position, to be honest, we wouldn't even be meeting today."
Strait of Hormuz and ceasefire negotiations
The US and Israel launched attacks on February 28, leading to the deaths of thousands of Iranian civilians and displacing millions. Since the start of the war, Iran had halted traffic in the Strait of Hormuz along its coast. With a provisional ceasefire agreement signed on June 17, Iran lifted the blockade in the strait.
In March, while the blockade was in full effect, Trump called on NATO allies to send their forces to protect the waterway, warning that failure to do so would be "very bad for the future of NATO." No NATO ally allocated military forces to the conflict.
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