After a volatile start, with Israeli-Iran holding the ceasefire, Trump plans to enter and exit the NATO summit in The Hague.
Stakes were not high at this year’s NATO summit
The general lack of Ukraine, Russia, defence spending, and US enthusiasm are all on the table at this year’s NATO summit.
WASHINGTON – In the fray of his Israeli-Iran ceasefire, President Donald Trump boarded Air Force 1 for the NATO summit in Europe, where the Middle East conflict is likely to take over.
The summit, which Trump was the first since returning to the White House, was meant to be a winning lap.
Laguard’s American allies had finally given him the increased defensive spending he had long been hoping for. “Donald, you have driven us into moments that are truly and really important for America, Europe and the world,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Latte texted him. “You will achieve something for decades that the US president cannot achieve.”
But restless Trump wasn’t in the mood to celebrate. His mind was in a crisis he thought he had resolved.
“In the worst case, I’m heading towards NATO, a much more calming time than I’ve experienced with Israel and Iran,” Trump wrote to The Truth Society when he flew around the Atlantic on June 24th.
But the Israeli-Iran conflict — and Trump’s decision to bomb three Iranian nuclear sites — scrambled the High Stakes Conference as world leaders are looking for the end of a 12-day Air Force war in which hundreds of people in Iran and dozens of people in Israel.
Latte, the former Dutch prime minister, told Trump that his Iranian strike was “really extraordinary and something no one else dared to do.”
Here’s what you need to know about President Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands:
Europeans spend more on defense
If everything goes as planned, the US allies will announce a dramatic increase in defense spending at this week’s NATO summit with President Donald Trump’s victory. After months of challenging beyond the 2% GDP spending target from US leaders, the country plans to announce a new 5% target.
The victory could be calm as the leader focuses on ending the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump pushed back a day’s departure from Washington to concentrate on a ceasefire.
Iran will dispute the shadows at the NATO summit
Support for Iran and the NATO enemy Russian Secretary held the highest heart when they gathered for consultation.
“Please remember that Iran is deeply involved in the Russian battle with Ukraine, for example, with the delivery of their drones,” NATO Secretary-General Latte said at a press conference on the eve of the rally. “So, there’s no doubt that’s going to be in the discussion.”
Trump later announced a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Iran. The White House wanted a wind to smash on its back towards Europe. But by the next morning the agreement seemed to have already fallen apart.
The president told reporters that he thought the two countries were violating the agreement. “I don’t know if they did that on purpose. They couldn’t get people back,” Trump said. “I don’t like the fact that Israel went out at all this morning. I’m going to see if I can stop it.”
Trump then posted, “A ceasefire is effective!”
Allies that don’t focus much on Ukraine
The gathering held in Latte’s hometown appeared at a critical time for the Alliance, with its leaders worried about Trump’s potential return to power at last year’s summit. Trump repeatedly threatened not to defend NATO countries without paying, dramatically pulling back to unconditional US support for Ukraine.
To appease Trump, who has sought negotiations for the Russian war, allies have focused less on Ukraine than on past summits.
Unlike in 2023, when former President Joe Biden declared that “the future of Ukraine is in NATO,” the alliance’s NATO-Ukraine Council will not even hold leader-level meetings to avoid clashes with Trump.
On the night of Trump’s arrival, the head of state attends a social reception hosted by King Willem Alexander at the palace. The Foreign Minister and Secretary of State Marco Rubio will discuss Ukraine at another working dinner.
Latte said the nation will reaffirm its support for Ukraine at various meetings attended by Ukrainian President Voldy Meezelensky and members of his team.
“We will see important languages about Ukraine, such as connecting defensive spending to Ukraine in 2035. The need to stay in the battle in Ukraine.”
It was unclear whether Trump would personally meet Zelensky after he left early from a group of seven summits that were to be seated with the Ukrainian leader last week. “Yeah, maybe,” he told Air Force 1 reporters.
Trump was not listed as participating in a meeting with Ukrainian president and European leader Latte, which NATO added on the last day of its official schedule.
Allies agree to increase defence spending
The focus of the summit will be on the agreement to end Russia’s Ukrainian war, strengthen weapons production and spend more GDP by NATO countries on defense, Latte said earlier.
Leaders agreed to spend at least 2% in 2023. NATO says that all alliance members are currently on track to meet or exceed guidelines.
Trump has called for NATO countries to raise spending to 5%, and members have spent months brainstorming creative ways to achieve new goals.
This includes five times the increase in air defense capabilities, thousands of tanks and armored vehicles, and millions of rounds of artillery ammunition, Latte said at a press conference.
NATO countries negotiated that infrastructure such as roads, bridges, airports and cybersecurity spending would count towards a 1.5% allocation of defense-related spending.
“This isn’t a grab bag that anyone can throw extra spending, but it’s important, like the infrastructure that enables military mobility,” the ambassador for NATO Matt Whitaker told reporters.
However, a last-minute conflict with Spain threatens to derail these plans. Spain announced in April that it would increase its spending to 2.1% of GDP. However, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that 5% is out of the question.
“NATO will have to deal with Spain,” Trump told reporters June 20.
The US has already spent about 3.4% of its GDP on defense. The NATO executive director said he is spending 1.5% on defense-related spending.
Trump: 5%, not me
Trump has declared that his allies are spending 5% of their GDP on defense. However, he told reporters on June 20 that the US should be exempt.
“I don’t think we should, but I think we should. We’ve spent. We’ve been supporting NATO for a long time,” Trump said.
