President Donald Trump trashed NATO after meeting with the alliance’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, then reiterated his frustrations with the alliance’s handling of Greenland.
“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!” Trump said shortly after the closed-door meeting ended.
Trump’s seething Truth Social post suggests his Wednesday meeting with Rutte didn’t go as well as many in the alliance had hoped, despite the duo’s known warm relationship.
NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart’s account of the meeting did not allay these concerns, with Hart writing that Trump and Rutte had a “frank discussion on a range of issues related to our shared security, including in the context of Iran” and that Rutte “underscored the importance of Allies continuing to step up to deliver a stronger, fairer Alliance.”
The relationship between the United States and NATO is at an all-time low, and Trump has made his anger toward the alliance well known after it failed to come to the U.S’s aid during its war with Iran. His frustration was made worse after France and Spain refused to let the U.S. use their airspace for strikes against Iran.
Behind the scenes, reports indicate his fury with NATO is even worse. After Trump was rebuffed by NATO countries in his call to help reopen the strait, he threatened to stop supplying NATO’s weapons procurement effort to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons, funded by European money, according to officials speaking with the Financial Times.
TRUMP PRESSURED NATO ALLIES WITH UKRAINE SUPPLIES OVER IRAN WAR: REPORT
The president has gone so far as to threaten on several occasions to withdraw from the alliance altogether. His Wednesday visit with Rutte was meant to soothe this tension.
Trump’s message bashing NATO and retreading his frustration over Greenland is the first public comment by either participant on the meeting. Rutte met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier in the day. At the meeting, the two “discussed Operation Epic Fury, ongoing U.S.-led efforts to bring a negotiated end to the Russia-Ukraine war, and increasing coordination and burden shifting with NATO Allies,” principal Deputy State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
