Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
NATO chief Mark Rutte also said that Europe would increase defense spending by “great way” thanks to American pressure.
US President Donald Trump shared a series of texts from the NATO secretary general Mark Rutte Presence of his attacks on Iran and the pressure he exerted on the allies to increase their military spending.
Trump shared Rutte’s texts in a screenshot published on his social media website, Truth Social on Tuesday, when he goes to a Summit In the Netherlands.
“Mr. President, Dear Donald, Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, it was really extraordinary, and something else dared to do. It makes us all safer”, the message reading.
Subsequently, Rutte defended Trump’s decision to share what seemed to be private messages. The NATO chief added that his tone in messages – which, according to some, seemed to imitate Trump’s writing style – was “appropriate”.
Messages highlight European Efforts to establish a productive relationship with Trump, who frequently declared that the continent had to spend more on his military capacities. He also questioned the value of American economic and security partnerships with NATO allies in Europe and Canada.
The texts also highlight the generalized praise that Trump has received from European leaders for its bombing of Iranian nuclear installations, even if these strikes are Considered by many be illegal under international law.
In his messages, Rutte congratulates Trump for having pushed European nations to increase their military expenditureDeclaring that NATO members have agreed to increase these expenses to 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP).
“Europe will pay importantly, as they should, and it will be your victory,” said Rutte, adding that Trump had achieved what “no American president for decades could be done”.
Trump had pushed NATO’s defense spending since his first mandate from 2017 to 2021. He has long accused NATO allies to take advantage of the United States based on its military power.
Previously, NATO members had accepted a target of expenses that represented 2% of their GDP. Trump had put pressure for this to be noted at 5%, with 3.5% of this sum dedicated to “hard defense” investments like weapons.
However, some countries, including Spain, have rejected calls to increase military spending, qualifying “unreasonable” demand.
“There is a problem with Spain. Spain does not agree, which is very unfair for others, frankly,” Trump told journalists on Air Force One on his way to the two -day meeting.
Trump, on the other hand, continued to send mixed signals on his commitment to NATOA mutual defense alliance created during the Cold War. Since then, it is a cornerstone of American and European cooperation.
Trump has long reported an ambivalence to article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding document of NATO. This article includes a mutual defense clause which obliges NATO members to consider an attack on a country as an attack on the group as a whole.
On Tuesday on his commitment to article 5, Trump told journalists that there could be “many definitions” of the clause. Rutte, asked questions about the commentary, said he had “without a doubt” that the United States was attached to the Mutual Defense.
NATO reviews are not new or unique to Trump. The skeptics stressed that the threat against which it was created to balance, the USSR, has long ceased to exist. Supporters, on the other hand, argue that the alliance serves as a major rampart against modern military assault.
But the large -scale invasion of Ukraine in Russia in 2022 inspired a new life in the organization, expanding its ranks with the addition of countries like Finland and Sweden and cause increased calls for larger defense expenses.
