As he prepares to attend a NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump shared Rutte’s texts in a screenshot that was posted to his social media site, Truth Social, on Tuesday.
“Mr. President, dear Donald, I want to congratulate you and thank you for your courageous action against Iran, which was unheard of and beyond anyone’s ability to resist. It makes everyone safer, according to the message.
Rutte defended Trump’s choice to share what appeared to be private messages afterward. The NATO leader added that the messages’ tone, which some claimed appeared to resemble Trump’s writing style, was “appropriate.”
The messages highlight efforts made by Europe to work together with Trump, who has frequently called for Europe to invest more money in its military arsenal. Additionally, he has questioned the worth of US economic and security cooperation with NATO allies in Canada and Europe.
Even though many people believe those strikes are against international law, the texts highlight how highly regarded Trump has been from European leaders for bombing Iranian nuclear facilities.
Rutte praises Trump for encouraging European countries to increase their military spending in his messages, stating that NATO members have agreed to contribute 5% of their GDP to this goal.
According to Rutte, “Europe will pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.” Trump added that Trump had accomplished what “NO American president in decades could do.”
Since his first term, from 2017 to 2021, Trump had been pushing for increases in NATO defense spending. He has frequently accused NATO allies of using their military might to benefit the US.
Prior to now, NATO members had agreed to a GDP-topping spending goal. Trump had pushed for the percentage to be increased to 5%, with 3.5% going to “hard defense” investments like weapons, where needed.
However, some nations, including Spain, have reacted to calls to increase military spending, calling the demand “unreasonable.”
“Spaniard has a problem,” he said. On his way to the two-day meeting, Trump said to reporters on Air Force One, “Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them,” to be honest.
Trump has meanwhile, remained unwavering about his support for NATO, a mutual defense alliance established during the Cold War. Since then, it has been the foundation of US and European cooperation.
Trump has long expressed disagreement with NATO’s founding document, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. A mutual defense provision in that article mandates that NATO members treat an attack on a country as an attack on the entire organization.
Trump claimed that there could be “numerous definitions” of the clause when questioned about his commitment to Article 5. When Rutte inquired about the comment, he claimed he had “no doubts” about the US’s commitment to reciprocal defense.
Trump has not only been criticized for NATO, but also for NATO. Skeptics have argued that the USSR, which it was intended to counteract, had long since vanished. The alliance, according to supporters, serves as a crucial defense against contemporary military aggression.
Source: Aljazeera
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