White house: Trump takes part in NATO summit

US President Donald Trump will take part in the Netherlands at the NATO summit at the end of June. This was announced by the spokeswoman for the White House, Karoline Leavitt, in Washington. So far, Trump had not yet confirmed his participation in the meeting. It had been puzzled that he could possibly avoid the summit within the military alliance about higher defense spending by the Member States – which would have been an escalation in the relationships between NATO and the USA that play an essential role in the alliance.

On June 24th and 25th, the heads of state and government of the military alliance come together in the Hague and will talk about their defense spending, among other things. Trump demands five percent of gross domestic product from the allies. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reacted with a compromise formula: 3.5 percent for the military and 1.5 percent for infrastructure such as streets or ports that can be relevant for defense.

Trump has been putting pressure on NATO partners for a long time. During his first term (2017 to 2021), the Republican had openly threatened the United States from the military alliance if the other members did not fulfill their obligation to invest at least two percent of their economic strength in defense. Since then he has been boasting that NATO partners only increased their expenses through his pressure.