Overview
- NATO Secretary‑General Mark Rutte met President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on June 24 to try to calm rising U.S. anger over European responses to the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran.
- Trump repeated sharp public criticism of several allies and said they had “let us down,” pressing for greater loyalty and higher defence spending from countries he named.
- Rutte defended allied support by citing thousands of U.S. military flights from European bases and charts showing increased European defence budgets, but at least one government, Italy, disputed his account of operational use.
- The Pentagon has already shrunk the pool of U.S. capabilities available to NATO and begun a six‑month review of U.S. forces in Europe that could lead to troop or capability reductions.
- The July 7–8 summit in Ankara will test whether leaders can translate Rutte’s damage control into concrete commitments on force posture, basing access, and the Hague pledge for higher defence investment.