NATO chief Mark Rutte has responded to the message publicly shared yesterday by U.S. President Donald Trump. Rutte stated it was “completely fine” that Trump made public a praising message he had sent while traveling to the Netherlands for Wednesday’s leaders’ summit, emphasizing that everything he wrote in the message was true.
“What I told him in the message, it’s completely fine that he published it,” Rutte said as the summit began in The Hague. “I think it’s a fact.” He dismissed a reporter’s question suggesting the situation was somehow embarrassing. “Absolutely not,” he said. “What is in that message is a factual statement, and I am completely fine that he shared it.”
The message, which Trump posted on his Truth Social network while flying to Europe on Monday, praised the American leader for pressuring NATO member countries to spend more on defense. “You will achieve something that no American president in decades has been able to accomplish. Europe will pay BIG, as it should, and this will be a victory for you,” Rutte wrote, before wishing Trump a good trip to the NATO summit in the Netherlands.
During the same trip, Trump did not express full support for Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which pertains to collective defense. But Rutte said he was not concerned. “For me, there is complete clarity that the United States is fully committed to NATO, fully committed to Article 5, and yes — there is also an expectation, which will be met today — that Canadians and Europeans will accelerate their spending,” he said on Wednesday.
