NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks in this undated photo. Rutte is in Washington on Wednesday for a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump, who is weighing a potential U.S. exit from the NATO alliance. (NATO)
NATO’s future will be atop the agenda when Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets Wednesday with President Donald Trump, whose recent threats to quit the military bloc have raised existential questions about the nearly 80-year-old alliance.
The White House meeting amounts to a diplomatic high-wire act for Rutte, who needs to persuade Trump that NATO still serves U.S. interests while navigating possible demands that could fracture an alliance at odds over the conflict in Iran.
Ahead of the talks, Trump praised Rutte while criticizing the 32-member alliance he leads.
“He’s a wonderful guy,” Trump said of Rutte on Monday. “A great person.”
At the same time, Trump has blasted NATO for being a “paper tiger,” saying he was giving serious consideration to pulling out of the alliance. He also warned Europe that it would soon face consequences for not contributing more to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
Some immediate pressure may have been relieved late Tuesday, when the U.S. and Iran agreed to a last-minute, two-week ceasefire just hours ahead of Trump’s self-imposed deadline to reach a deal. However, the U.S. and Iran appear far apart on many fundamental issues, raising the possibility of further hostilities.
Rutte also is slated to meet Wednesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, both of whom have strongly criticized NATO over the past week.
Some longtime NATO observers describe the situation as a state of emergency for the alliance, which was formed in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union.
“This is by far the worst crisis NATO has ever confronted,” wrote Ivo Daalder, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO in an assessment this month on his personal website.
Daalder said NATO’s core principle — that allies will come to the defense of one another if under attack — is nearing a breaking point.
“It’s hard to see how any European country will now be able and willing to trust the United States to come to its defense,” Daalder said.
The circumstances put Rutte, known for his diplomatic touch and friendly ties with Trump, in a delicate position.
As secretary-general, Rutte is responsible for managing NATO’s relationship with the United States, the alliance’s most powerful member, while also representing allies with differing views on Iran.
Rutte was criticized last month when he expressed support for Trump’s Iran military campaign, with some allies saying he had overstepped his role as secretary-general.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said ahead of Wednesday’s meeting that some of Trump’s top advisers share blame for NATO’s limited role in the Middle East, accusing them of pushing allies to focus more on Europe’s defense.
Trump “has been badly served by senior officials’ open hostility to European allies and yearlong admonishments to Europe to focus exclusively on its affairs at home,” McConnell said in a statement, without naming specific advisers.
McConnell also said the Trump-Rutte meeting should serve as an opportunity to signal continued alliance unity.
“How we talk about our NATO allies in public, and how we consult them in private, affects the strength of our other alliances and partnerships across the world,” McConnell said. “European allies are carrying more of the burden of collective defense. If we remain with them, they will be with us. But clarity and consistency must be the order of the day on both sides of the Atlantic.”
But such traditional diplomatic approaches have been upended in recent weeks. Longtime NATO boosters such as Rubio and Sen. Lindsey Graham have called for a reevaluation of ties with Europe and the value of maintaining military bases in certain countries.
Spain, home to a major U.S. Navy base, has faced sharp criticism for refusing to allow its bases to be used for Iran operations.
Despite the NATO criticism, several of its member countries have been key to enabling the U.S. campaign in Iran. For example, military bases in the United Kingdom, Germany and Romania have played key roles in the U.S. effort.
As Rutte navigates the meeting with Trump, he could seek to highlight such efforts and how the U.S. basing network in Europe enables the Pentagon to project power into the Middle East for such missions.
In the past, Rutte has found ways to satisfy various Trump demands, such as pushing NATO defense spending toward 5% of gross domestic product and advancing a new Arctic mission aimed at addressing Trump’s security concerns around Greenland.
It’s unclear whether Rutte could help secure a NATO role in the Middle East if the ceasefire holds.
Some experts say Europe should instead focus on strengthening its militaries in case it needs to act alone.
“Europe must now do what it has failed to do for so long,” Daalder said. “It needs to build up its defenses as quickly as it can, mobilize resources and production capabilities, recruit and if necessary conscript people to serve, train and prepare for attacks, both direct and indirect, and realize that all of this was needed yesterday rather than tomorrow.”
