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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech during her annual State of the Union address at a plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, eastern France on September 16, 2026
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NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), pressing the case for a military alliance that the volatile U.S. leader has sharply criticized as the Pentagon reviews the size of the U.S. military footprint in Europe.

Mr. Trump has slammed NATO, arguing the U.S. carries more than its fair share of military spending. But his grievances have been louder since the Iran war as he fumed over the fact that some member countries ignored his call to help him restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz.

Mr. Trump has renewed his threats to leave the 77-year-old alliance, raising the stakes before the NATO leaders’ summit in Turkey next month. But Mr. Rutte, who has become known as a Trump whisperer for his ability to charm the President, was looking to appease him Wednesday.

Meeting with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, Mr. Rutte pushed back gently, saying, “I know there have been isolated cases about which you are really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there with you.”

Mr. Rutte also noted that 4,000 to 5,000 U.S. planes took off from bases in Europe before Iran and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire.

That followed Mr. Trump’s comment, while introducing Mr. Rutte, that “they weren’t too nice to us in our recent little military skirmish.”

The visit, Mr. Rutte’s fifth since Mr. Trump returned to power last year, comes after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week lashed out at allies during a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels. His department is in the midst of a six-month review of U.S. forces in Europe.

Mr. Hegseth echoed some of Mr. Trump’s critiques, faulting European allies for not letting the U.S. use bases in Europe to attack Iran. NATO allies were not consulted about the war before the U.S. launched it with Israel on Feb. 28, and some have been openly critical of Mr. Trump’s strategy.

Mr. Trump argues that NATO allies were not there for the U.S. and suggested leaving the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union. At the heart of their treaty is a mutual defence agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. The only time it has been invoked was in 2001, to support the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

The Pentagon’s warning that it will reduce its military presence in Europe to focus on threats elsewhere was the latest upheaval for the 32-member alliance since Mr. Trump returned to office.

The Republican leader stunned European allies last year when he threatened to annex Greenland, a semiautonomous island that is part of ally Denmark.

Earlier on Wednesday, the leaders of five big European NATO allies — Germany, France, the U.K., Italy and Poland – met in Berlin to prepare for next month’s summit in Ankara, and Mr. Rutte joined them remotely.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in remarks to reporters that the Ankara summit also should send the message that “we will do our part when the conditions are in place” to support an Iran peace deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron said “we are in a moment of reconvergence between the Europeans and the Americans” and indicated that he hopes that will continue at the summit.

A chief part of Mr. Rutte’s mission these days is keeping the U.S. in NATO, and he’s proven himself deft in the past at subduing Mr. Trump’s frustrations.

Mr. Rutte frequently flatters the President, crediting him with getting NATO members to increase their defence spending. Mr. Trump last year pressured leaders to agree to invest 5% of their GDP annually on defence by 2035.

On Tuesday (June 23, 2026) evening, Mr. Rutte appeared for an interview on Fox News Channel, of which Mr. Trump is known to be a dedicated viewer.

Mr. Rutte repeatedly praised Mr. Trump, emphasizing he is the leader of the NATO alliance and said of his efforts in Iran: “I’m completely behind him on this.”

He said Mr. Trump’s frustrations over the use of bases in Europe involved a few “isolated cases.”

The lengths to which Mr. Rutte is willing to praise Mr. Trump have at times raised eyebrows, such as when he referred to the President as “daddy” during the alliance’s summit last year.

He then sent him a fawning text message that employed one of Mr. Trump’s favorite flourishes, capitalizing random words. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Mr. Rutte said.

Mr. Trump shared the private message on social media for the world to see.

He did it again in January, blasting out another Mr. Rutte message that closed with: “Can’t wait to see you. Yours, Mark.”

Published – June 25, 2026 03:24 am IST

A file image of European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, senior Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meet with U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), U.S. Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany on December 14, 2025.
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Sweden will host a NATO logistics headquarters in the town of Enkoping. File
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Washington:

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he did not think it was practical for Ukraine to join NATO and that it was unlikely Ukraine will get back all of its land.

Trump discussed the war in Ukraine on Wednesday in phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in the U.S. president’s first big step toward diplomacy in a conflict he has promised to end.

Trump said he and Putin expect to meet in the future, probably in Saudi Arabia.

Trump described his call with Putin as a good conversation and said it lasted over an hour. He made the remarks to reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

Zelenskiy’s office said Trump and Zelenskiy spoke by phone for about an hour, while the Kremlin said Putin’s call with Trump lasted nearly an hour and a half.

The Kremlin said Putin and Trump had agreed to meet, and Putin had invited Trump to visit Moscow.

There had been speculation the two leaders would meet in a third country, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates seen as possible venues, according to Russian sources.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It had annexed Crimea in 2014.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he understands the Russian feeling with NATO being on their doorstep.

“You know, a big part of the problem was Russia for many, many years, long before (Russian President, Vladimir) Putin said, you could never have NATO involved with Ukraine. Now they’ve said … that’s been like written in stone. Somewhere along the line (US President, Joe) Biden said no, they should be able to join NATO. Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep and I could understand their feeling about that,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

“There were a lot of mistakes made in that negotiation. When I heard the way that Biden was negotiating, I said you’re going to end up in a war and it turned out to be a very bad war. That war could escalate to be much worse than it is right now,” he said in response to a question.

“My view is that it was always understood. In fact, I believe that they had a deal and then Biden broke it. They had a deal which would have been a satisfactory deal to Ukraine and everybody else. But Biden said, no, you have to be able to join NATO.

“That’s always been, and nobody knows more about NATO than I. You know, years ago when I first started this, I didn’t know too much about NATO, but I got it right anyway,” he said.

Ukraine now wants to be a NATO member. In 2008, NATO had expressed support for Ukraine joining NATO. However, NATO has not yet extended its membership to Ukraine.

Trump also told reporters that he wants NATO members to contribute five per cent of their GDP. “NATO should have five per cent,” he said.

“Well, you can’t do it at two. I mean at two per cent, if you’re going to have a country and a regular military, you’re at four per cent. I think they’re in dangerous territory. They can all afford it, but they should be at five per cent, not two per cent. I’m the one that got him to pay two per cent,” he said.

“They’re taking advantage. I’m the one that got, and the (NATO) secretary general was here two weeks ago, saying that if it weren’t for me, NATO wouldn’t even exist right now. Because I raised, from countries that weren’t paying their bills, at that time 28 countries, 20 of them were not paying their bills, 21 to be exact,” he asserted.

“They weren’t paying or they were paying a very small portion, and I raised over USD 680 billion, that was the number he gave, by saying, if you don’t pay, we’re not going to protect you. As soon as I said that, the money came pouring in. But Obama could have said it, other people could have said it, Bush could have said it. Nobody said it but me. I took a lot of heat,” he said.

“They said, that’s a threatening statement. Well, they weren’t paying their bills. I said we’re not going to protect you if you’re not paying the bills. So, in a true sense, I saved NATO, but NATO has taken advantage of us. And one of the problems that I have, and I’ve said it openly, I said it to President Zelenskyy,” Trump said.

“Europe is in for a tiny fraction of the money that we’re in. Now, whether you like that situation or not, Europe is much more affected than the United States. We have a thing called the ocean in between us. Why are we in for billions and billions of dollars more money than Europe? And you know, they’re a similar size, a little smaller, but they’re a similar size economy as the United States when you add them up. And yet Europe is in for a small fraction of the number the United States is in,” he said.

“I said you have to pay your bills and they all — one stood up, I won’t say who, you’ll probably have it because the papers — the media hated to report on it. But a prime minister stood up from a country, you know, a famous meeting of 28 nations with no press, he stood up and he says, does that mean if we don’t pay our bill… I said, if you don’t pay, you mean you’re delinquent? He said, yes. I said, if you’re delinquent, we will not protect you,” Trump said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Washington:

 Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump held a press conference on Tuesday and spoke about a range of issues including NATO, Israeli hostages in Gaza, his wish for the U.S. to buy Greenland and take control of the Panama Canal.

He also discussed Elon Musk and speculation about Canada becoming a U.S. state.

Here are some of his key quotes, ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

CANADA

Asked about his idea that Canada should be a U.S. state, Trump said: “You get rid of that artificially drawn line, and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security. Don’t forget, we basically protect Canada. But here’s the problem with Canada. So many friends up there, I love the Canadian people. They’re great, but we’re spending hundreds of billions a year to protect it. We’re spending hundreds of billions a year to take care of Canada. We lose in trade deficits.”

ISRAELI HOSTAGES IN GAZA

“All hell will break out. If they’re not back by the time I get into office, all hell will break out in the Middle East, and it will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone. All hell will break out.”

MEXICO

“We have a massive deficit with Mexico, and we help Mexico a lot. They’re essentially run by the cartels, and can’t let that happen, because Mexico is really in trouble, a lot of trouble, very dangerous place. We’re going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.”

PANAMA CANAL, GREENLAND

Since he won the Nov. 5 election Trump has talked about the U.S. buying the Danish territory of Greenland, and the U.S. retaking control of the Panama Canal. He declined on Tuesday to rule out military or economic action as part of those desires.

Trump added: “I can say this, we need them for economic security.” Trump did not commit to negotiating a treaty with Panama, but said: “Look, the Panama Canal is vital to our country.” He added: “It’s being operated by China, China, and we gave the Panama Canal to Panama. We didn’t give it to China, and they’ve abused it. They’ve abused that gift. It should have never been made.”

ELON MUSK

Musk, the Tesla chief executive and Trump’s choice to co-chair a commission aimed at cutting government spending, has criticized British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in recent days over his performance when Starmer was the UK’s director of public prosecutions.

Musk has said Starmer failed to prosecute gangs of men who raped young girls. Starmer said on Tuesday that Musk knew “absolutely nothing” about the scandals he has been commenting on.

Musk has also expressed support for the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Asked for his reaction to Musk’s “provocative statements” about foreign affairs in Europe and elsewhere, Trump said: “I can say Elon’s doing a good job. Very smart guy. I don’t know the people you’re talking about. He was, I know he said some negative things about a couple of people that are running for office, but it’s not so unusual.”

TRUMP ON NATO

Trump said he believes European members of NATO should spend 5% of their GDP on the alliance’s defense. “I think NATO should have 5%, yeah. Well, you can’t do it at two I mean, at 2% every country, if you’re going to have a country and a regular military, you’re at 4% I think they should be, you know, they’re in dangerous territory. They can all afford it, but they should be at 5% not 2%.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)