NATO Chief to Meet Trump at White House Ahead of Summit

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday. The session occurs two weeks before the annual NATO summit scheduled next month in Turkey. The Pentagon is conducting a six-month review of the size of U.S.

Military forces in Europe. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the review last week during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, the Associated Press reported. President Trump has renewed threats to withdraw the United States from NATO.

The United States and Israel launched military action against Iran on February 28 without consulting NATO member countries beforehand, according to the Associated Press. NATO was founded in 1949 to counter the Soviet threat to European security. Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all and was invoked only once, after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Mark Rutte appeared on Fox News Channel on Tuesday evening. He stated he is “completely behind” Trump on efforts related to Iran and described the president’s frustrations over the use of bases in Europe as involving a few “isolated cases,” the Associated Press reported. Trump last year pressured NATO leaders to agree to invest 5% of GDP annually on defense by 2035.

Rutte referred to Trump as “daddy” during the NATO summit last year and sent text messages that Trump later shared on social media.