NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is meeting President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday in a high-stakes effort to keep the United States inside the 77-year-old alliance, just two weeks before a NATO summit in Turkey. The talks come amid a fresh crisis over the war with Iran, U.S. pressure on European allies, and Trump’s repeated threats to pull America out unless Europe does more.
The immediate dispute centers on allies’ refusal to help open oil shipping routes in the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharply criticized NATO partners in Brussels, saying they would not let the United States use their bases in Europe to strike Iran. European governments also were not briefed in advance on the military actions launched at the end of February, and some openly criticized Trump’s strategy.
Rutte is trying a familiar approach, praise. In an interview Monday night with Fox News, the president’s favored network, he said, “I support Trump 100% when it comes to his efforts in Iran.” He added that the disagreement over base access is only a single isolated case. In the past, Rutte has gone unusually far to placate Trump, including sending flattering text messages that Trump later posted publicly and using personal nicknames for him at earlier summits.
The NATO chief’s main goal is to preserve the alliance’s unity, even if that means accommodating White House demands on defense spending. Last year, Trump pressed leaders to commit to spending 5% of GDP on security by 2035, and that demand is now central to Rutte’s outreach. NATO, founded in 1949 as a counterweight to the Soviet threat, has faced repeated shocks since Trump returned to office, including his remark that the United States might buy or annex Greenland, which belongs to Denmark. With the Pentagon signaling cuts in Europe to focus elsewhere, the White House meeting could prove decisive before the critical Turkey summit.
