NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will travel to Washington next week for a three-day visit that includes a Wednesday sit-down with President Trump at the White House, the military alliance announced Friday.
Rutte will also meet with senior Trump administration officials and members of Congress. The visit comes as the U.S. and its European partners trade sharp words over America’s military commitments and NATO’s failure to pull its weight.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharpened the rhetoric Thursday during a meeting with NATO counterparts in Brussels, announcing a new six-month review of U.S. troop deployments across Europe and accusing the alliance of being a “paper tiger.”
“President Trump has been very clear on this point for many years and over two administrations,” Hegseth said. “For too long, NATO has been a paper tiger and a one-way street. No more.”
The review will assess whether current deployments match what the alliance actually demands of the United States. Hegseth said the goal is to ensure NATO moves “fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading,” though he stopped short of confirming whether a troop drawdown in Europe is on the table.
Earlier this month, the U.S. informed European allies it would reduce the number of fighter jets and warships it would commit to NATO’s early-conflict response, according to a report in The New York Times.
The fallout from the Iran conflict has deepened the rift. Trump criticized several European nations for refusing to open their bases to U.S. aircraft deployed to the Middle East during the war, and separately slammed Europe’s response to Iran’s response to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
NATO countries pledged last year to spend 5 percent of GDP annually on defense, but Trump has pushed allies to reach that target faster. The U.S. has long provided the bulk of the alliance’s operational muscle while European members lagged on spending commitments.
Rutte’s Washington trip is aimed at steadying the relationship ahead of what could be a pivotal stretch for the alliance, with the U.S. review expected to conclude later this year.
