US President Donald Trump on Wednesday vented his frustration with NATO during a private meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte as relations in the military alliance reached a crisis point over the Iran war.
“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte said on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper, after spending more than two hours at the White House. “This was a very frank, very open discussion, but also a discussion between two good friends.”
Rutte spoke hours after White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt quoted Trump as saying of NATO: “They were tested, and they failed” during the Iran war.
Photo: Reuters
Several NATO countries resisted supporting the US military campaign against Iran by denying US military planes use of their airspace or declining to send naval forces to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz for energy tankers.
Without specifying the countries, Rutte said his own view was that “some” NATO countries had failed to live up to their commitments in the Iran operation, but that “the large majority of Europeans” had been helpful.
The White House did not disclose details of the talks, but Trump wrote his thoughts on Truth Social after the meeting.
“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!” he said.
Trump has repeatedly called NATO a “paper tiger” and threatened to withdraw from the 32-member transatlantic alliance in the past few weeks, saying that Washington’s European allies have relied on US security guarantees while providing inadequate support for the US-Israeli bombing campaign in Iran.
Although Trump on Tuesday said the attacks on Iran would be paused under a two-week ceasefire, the fallout from the conflict has continued to strain ties between Washington and its allies, suggesting the diplomatic consequences might linger longer.
Leavitt on Wednesday said that NATO countries had “turned their backs on the American people,” who fund their nations’ defense, and that Trump would have a “very frank and candid conversation” with the NATO chief.
Conflict over Iran has worsened transatlantic anxieties over Ukraine, Greenland and military spending, although senior US officials have privately reassured European governments that the administration remains committed to NATO, according to one of the two European officials, who was involved in such conversations.
“This is a dangerous point for the transatlantic alliance,” said Oana Lungescu, an analyst at the London-based think tank Royal United Services Institute and a former NATO spokeswoman.
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