Rutte meets Trump as NATO faces summit strain over US role

Washington,UPDATED: Jun 24, 2026 23:34 IST

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the alliance’s annual summit and as the Pentagon reviews the size of the American military presence in Europe. The meeting comes at a sensitive time for the 32-member alliance, with Trump again voicing anger over NATO burden-sharing and raising threats to leave the bloc.

Rutte, making his fifth visit since Trump returned to power last year, is expected to use the meeting to steady ties and keep the US committed to NATO. His visit follows sharp criticism from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and renewed strains over the Iran war, European military bases and defence spending.

Trump has long argued that the US carries more than its fair share of NATO’s military spending. His criticism has grown louder since the Iran war, as he complained that some member countries ignored his call to help restart oil trade through the closed Strait of Hormuz.

Trump has also revived threats to leave the 77-year-old alliance ahead of next month’s NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara. Rutte, who is known for his ability to charm Trump, is expected to try to ease those tensions during Wednesday’s talks.

The latest visit comes after Hegseth strongly criticised allies at a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels last week and announced a six-month Pentagon review of US forces in Europe. He echoed some of Trump’s complaints, saying European allies had not allowed the US to use bases in Europe to attack Iran.

NATO allies were not consulted about the war before the US launched it with Israel on February 28, and some have openly criticised Trump’s strategy. Trump has since claimed that NATO allies were not there for the US and has again suggested leaving the alliance.

NATO was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed by the Soviet Union to European security. Its treaty is built around a mutual defence clause under which an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. That provision has been invoked only once, in 2001, after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in support of the United States.

The Pentagon’s indication that it could reduce the US military presence in Europe to focus on threats elsewhere is the latest disruption for the alliance since Trump returned to office. Last year, he also shocked European allies by threatening to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous island that is part of NATO ally Denmark.

Earlier on Wednesday, the leaders of Germany, France, the UK, Italy and Poland met in Berlin to prepare for next month’s summit in Ankara, with Rutte joining them remotely. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the summit should also send the message that “we will do our part when the conditions are in place” to support an Iran peace deal. French President Emmanuel Macron said, “we are in a moment of reconvergence between the Europeans and the Americans” and suggested he hoped that would continue at the summit.

A central part of Rutte’s role has been keeping the US inside NATO, and he has often praised Trump for pushing members to increase defence spending. Trump last year pressed leaders to agree to spend 5 per cent of their GDP annually on defence by 2035. On Tuesday evening, Rutte appeared on Fox News, a channel Trump is known to watch closely, and repeatedly praised him, saying of his efforts in Iran: “I’m completely behind him on this.” He also said Trump’s complaints about the use of bases in Europe involved a few “isolated cases.”

Rutte’s public praise of Trump has at times drawn attention. At last year’s NATO summit, he referred to the president as “daddy”. He later sent him a text message saying, “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” which Trump then posted on social media. Trump did the same again in January with another message from Rutte that ended: “Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”

Wednesday’s meeting is therefore taking place against the backdrop of tension over Iran, defence spending, the US military role in Europe and the future of NATO itself, with Rutte seeking to keep the alliance together ahead of next month’s summit.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends