Rutte Commends Trump as Europe Readies 5% Spending Goal \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte commended President Trump for pushing European allies toward a landmark defense spending commitment. Leaders are meeting in the Netherlands to finalize a collective goal of investing 5% of GDP on security. Ukraine attended the summit, but its path to membership remains stalled under Trump.
Quick Looks
- Rutte said Trump “has driven us to a really, really important moment” in defense funding.
- NATO is aiming for a target of 5% GDP spending; Spain balks, Slovakia demands flexibility.
- Summit focus shifts from Ukraine to Trump’s Middle East actions and Iran strikes.
- Zelenskyy attends summit: secures Dutch drone support, but no NATO membership commitments.
Deep Look
At a crucial moment for global security, NATO’s top leadership publicly credited U.S. President Donald Trump with transforming Europe’s defense posture, as world leaders gathered in The Hague for a historic summit. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised Trump for pressuring allies into committing to a significant military spending goal—a shift that could redefine the alliance’s future or expose deeper divisions among its 32 members.
Trump, en route to the Netherlands, shared a private message from Rutte that read: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.” NATO confirmed the message’s authenticity. When asked about its disclosure, Rutte replied calmly: “There’s nothing in it which had to stay secret.”
The focus of the summit was to finalize NATO’s most ambitious financial target yet: a collective pledge for each member to spend 5% of its GDP on defense by 2035. The proposal, long championed by President Trump, stems from his belief that the U.S. should not continue shouldering the majority of NATO’s financial burden. Trump’s push has now reached a critical tipping point, turning what was once a divisive idea into formal alliance policy.
While the U.K., France, Germany, and the Netherlands have already signed on, Spain has openly rejected the plan, calling the 5% benchmark “unreasonable.” Slovakia supports the goal in theory but insists on its sovereign right to choose how and when to meet it. In a blunt assessment, Trump said, “There’s a problem with Spain. Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly.”
This tension echoes Trump’s previous confrontations at the 2018 NATO summit, during his first term. Now, with Trump back in office, he is determined to see the alliance align with U.S. expectations, both in spending and in strategic focus. Yet this summit faced new challenges as international attention shifted from Eastern Europe to the Middle East.
Days before the gathering, Trump ordered U.S. military strikes on three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, asserting that the operation significantly undermined Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The surprise announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire” added another dramatic turn to the summit’s narrative.
Despite this, NATO officials emphasized the alliance’s ability to manage multiple crises at once. Rutte was unequivocal: “If we would not be able to deal with… the Middle East, which is very big and commanding all the headlines, and Ukraine at the same time, we should not be in the business of politics and military at all.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the summit but was excluded from the formal leaders’ roundtable on the defense spending agreement. His presence, while symbolic, marked a departure from last year’s summit in Washington, where Ukraine’s NATO aspirations were at center stage. This year, under Trump’s leadership, NATO’s public stance on Ukraine’s membership has noticeably cooled.
Zelenskyy’s first engagement was with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, who announced a major aid package, including 100 radar systems for detecting drones and the establishment of a Dutch-based drone production facility using Ukrainian specifications. While this signaled continued support, no new U.S. military assistance to Ukraine has been announced since Trump returned to the presidency six months ago.
In a later meeting with Rutte and top EU officials, Zelenskyy called for deeper investment in Ukraine’s domestic defense industry. He argued that Ukraine can produce weapons and ammunition faster and more cost-effectively than many European suppliers—a potential asset as NATO seeks to build long-term readiness.
Zelenskyy warned that failing to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin now could lead to wider conflict: “His objectives reach beyond Ukraine,” he said. He added that NATO’s new 5% defense goal was “the right level” to meet the challenge.
Still, Ukraine’s road to NATO membership remains frozen under Trump’s administration. While Dutch and EU officials referred to Ukraine as part of the “Euro-Atlantic family,” neither side used language suggesting imminent integration. Zelenskyy spoke of his vision of Ukraine as part of the “EU family,” subtly downplaying NATO’s role.
As the summit concludes, it’s clear that President Trump has significantly reshaped NATO’s priorities. With a formal push toward 5% GDP defense spending and renewed skepticism toward expanding the alliance, the Trump doctrine at NATO is now being fully realized—and could change the alliance’s future course for years to come.
Rutte Commends Trump
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