US President Donald Trump arrived at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday demanding allies dramatically increase military spending, a push immediately complicated by Spain’s public refusal and the precarious cease-fire between Israel and Iran which threatened to overshadow the gathering.
While discussions centred on the urgent need for collective defence in light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the conflict in the Middle East dominated the early exchanges.
President Trump, meeting NATO leaders at their annual summit, reiterated his demand that alliance members raise their military spending to 5% of economic output, a significant jump from the current 2% target.
“You are flying into another big success,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte texted Trump on Tuesday, a message promptly shared by the President as he travelled across the Atlantic. Rutte’s flattery extended further, comparing the push for increased spending to Trump’s recent actions against Iran:
Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary, and something no one else dared to do.
However, Spain swiftly complicated Trump’s ambitions. A senior Spanish official stated the country was unwilling to commit to the 5% target, highlighting the challenge in achieving consensus among the 32 members. Rutte has been negotiating intensely for months, aiming for an agreement where members pledge to lift core military budgets to 3.5% of GDP by 2035, reaching 5% when including related spending on cyber, intelligence, and infrastructure.
Yet, even as Air Force One approached the Dutch capital, Trump drifted off script. Questioned on whether the US would abide by NATO’s Article 5 mutual defence guarantee – which states an attack on one member is an attack on all – Trump offered a notably non-committal response:
Depends on your definition. There [are] numerous definitions of article 5, you know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends.
Pressed for clarity, he stated he was “committed to saving lives” and “committed to life and safety” but declined to elaborate further mid-flight.
Rutte’s “daddy” diplomacy and Trump’s focus
The public portion of Trump’s initial meeting with Rutte was largely consumed by the Middle East situation, despite the summit’s primary focus being European security and Ukraine. Trump spoke briefly about NATO and Article 5 and took one question on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This shift occurred despite the ongoing active offensive by Russian forces in seven regions of Ukraine, including Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy.
The dynamic between Trump and Rutte reached a new level of peculiarity during their joint press conference. Trump, discussing the fragile Israel-Iran cease-fire, likened the nations to “two kids in a schoolyard” fighting and showed no remorse for his previous day’s outburst where he claimed they “don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.” In an attempt to contextualise Trump’s blunt language, Rutte offered a bizarre justification:
Daddy has to use tough language.
Rutte’s public courting of Trump had already been effusive. In his opening remarks, he credited Trump directly for shifting the burden:
For too long, one ally, the United States carried too much of the burden of that commitment. That changes today. President Trump, dear Donald, you made this change possible.
Rutte’s private message, shared by Trump, was equally glowing, proclaiming Trump would achieve something “NO American president in decades could get done” and that “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way… and it will be your win.”
Despite the distractions and diplomatic theatrics, Trump later publicly confirmed his commitment to Article 5 at the summit and praised the emerging pledges towards the 5% spending goal as “big news.”
