Trump and Rutte discuss NATO challenges and defence spending
The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, met with the US President-elect, Donald Trump, to discuss global security issues.
The NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, held a meeting with the US President-elect, Donald Trump, in Florida at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence. The discussions covered key aspects related to global security, as confirmed by NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah. The details of the conversation have not been disclosed.
According to reports, the main topics were the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the increase in NATO's defence spending. During the election campaign, Trump promised to end Russian aggression within 24 hours and demanded that allies allocate 3% of GDP to defence.
Challenges for NATO
Currently, only four out of the 32 NATO countries, aside from the USA, meet this financial requirement. Following Trump's victory, Rutte emphasised that, thanks to NATO, the United States has 31 allies who can support American interests and security.
For Rutte, this was his first meeting with Trump in his new role. As the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rutte frequently conversed with Trump. After one of their previous meetings in 2019, Trump described their relationship as friendly. This information was reported by the dpa agency.
