NATO chief praises Trump for making Europe ‘pay in a BIG way’ on defense ahead of summit

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) – NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Donald Trump for making Europe “pay in a BIG way,” as allied leaders gathered in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a historic summit that could unite them around a new defense spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 member countries.

The U.S. president, while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Rutte saying: “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,” Rutte wrote. NATO confirmed that he sent the message.

The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance’s plans for defending against outside attack. Trump has said the U.S. should not have to.

Still, Spain has said it cannot, and that the target is “unreasonable.” Slovakia said it reserves the right to decide how to reach the target by NATO’s new 2035 deadline.

“There’s a problem with Spain. Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly,” Trump told reporters on his way to the two-day meeting.

In 2018, a NATO summit during Trump’s first term unraveled due to a dispute over defense spending.

Ahead of the meeting, Britain, France and Germany committed to the 5% goal. Host country the Netherlands is also on board. Nations closer to the borders of Ukraine, Russia and its ally Belarus had previously pledged to do so.

Trump’s first appearance at NATO since returning to the White House was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured the historic military spending pledge from others in the security alliance – effectively bending it to its will.

But the spotlight has shifted to Trump’s decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, as well as the president’s sudden announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire.”

Ukraine has also suffered as a result of that conflict. It has created a need for weapons and ammunition that Kyiv desperately wants, and shifted the world’s attention. Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.

Still, Rutte insisted NATO could manage more than one conflict at a time.

“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,” he said. “If you can only deal with one issue at a time, that will be that. Then let other people take over.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.

It’s a big change since the summit in Washington last year, when the military alliance’s weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country “on its irreversible path” to NATO membership.

Zelenskyy’s first official engagement was with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his official residence just across the road from the summit venue.

But in a telling sign of Ukraine’s status at the summit, neither leader mentioned NATO. Ukraine’s bid to join the alliance has been put in deep freeze by Trump.

“Let me be very clear, Ukraine is part of the family that we call the Euro-Atlantic family,” Schoof told Zelenskyy, who in turn said he sees his country’s future in peace “and of course, a part of a big family of EU family.”

Schoof used the meeting to announce a new package of Dutch support to Kyiv including 100 radar systems to detect drones and a move to produce drones for Ukraine in the Netherlands, using Kyiv’s specifications.

The U.S. has made no new public pledges of support to Ukraine since Trump took office six months ago.

Meeting later with Rutte and top EU officials, Zelenskyy appealed for European investment in Ukraine’s defense industry, which can produce weapons and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than elsewhere in Europe.

“No doubt, we must stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin now and in Ukraine. But we have to understand that his objectives reach beyond Ukraine. European countries need to increase defense spending,” he said. He said that NATO’s new target of 5% of GDP “is the right level.”

He thanked them for their unity in supporting Ukraine, saying: “I think this is the most important thing.”