Trump Questions US Commitment to Defend Allies Before NATO Meets

Mark Rutte at the NATO summit in The Hague, on June 23. Photographer: Lina Selg/Bloomberg Photo by Lina Selg /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump cast doubt on exactly how far the US is prepared to go to defend its NATO allies as he headed to a crucial summit with leaders of the military alliance.

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Trump said it “depends on your definition” when he was asked if he would commit to NATO’s Article 5, which requires members to defend each other from attack, while traveling aboard Air Force One on Tuesday to the summit in The Hague. 

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“There’s numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?” Trump went on. “But I’m committed to being their friends, you know, I’ve become friends with many of those leaders, and I’m committed to helping them.”

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Article 5 is the fundamental pillar of the post-World War II NATO alliance, which protected western Europe from the Soviet Union during the Cold War and has underpinned the US-led alliance ever since. Yet it has been a longstanding source of resentment for Trump, who has complained that US allies are too reliant on Washington’s defense spending and should contribute more to collective security.

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During his first term, Trump threatened to leave NATO and last year he said he’d let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to allies not spending enough on defense.

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US commitment to NATO security has become an increasing source of concern to officials in Brussels, Berlin and Paris as Trump sought to force through a peace deal in Ukraine and push much of the responsibility for maintaining it onto Europe. 

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Secretary General Mark Rutte has geared the whole NATO summit toward securing a renewed commitment to Article 5 from Trump, pushing alliance members to meet the president’s demand that they increase defense budgets to 5% of GDP and choreographing the two-day event to minimize the chance of anything annoying the US leader. 

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All the same, Rutte has struggled to corral the alliance’s 32 national leaders into line, with Spain’s Pedro Sanchez insisting that his country won’t accept the 5% target and Robert Fico of Slovakia also backing away from the pledge. Canada’s foreign minister, Anita Anand, said she would like the target to be reviewed. 

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“We like to see steps along the way where there can be a re-examination of whether this is the right approach,” Anand told reporters in The Hague ahead of the summit. 

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Germany, on the other hand, is embracing its security responsibilities under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who took office last month. Merz told lawmakers in Berlin Tuesday that he will build Europe’s strongest conventional military in order to defend Europe from the Russian threat. 

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“Because Russia, above all, actively and aggressively threatens the security and freedom of the entire Atlantic space,” Merz said. “We have to fear that Russia will expand its war beyond Ukraine.”

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Asked to clarify his remarks on protecting NATO allies, Trump said that he was “committed to saving lives. I’m committed to life and safety.” 

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“I’m going to give you an exact definition when I get there” he told reporters. “I just don’t want to do it on the back of an airplane.”

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(Updates with context from the fourth paragraph.)

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