NATO chief hails Trump as Europe signals intent to hike defence bill

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised US President Trump for making Europe “pay in a big way,” as allied leaders gathered in the Netherlands on Tuesday for a historic summit that could unite them around a new defence spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 member countries.

The US president, while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Rutte saying: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something no American president in decades could get done.”

The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5 per cent of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance’s plans for defending against outside attack. Still, Spain has said it cannot, and that the target is “unreasonable.” Trump has said the US should not have to.

Slovakia said that it reserves the right to decide how to reach the target by NATO’s new 2035 deadline.