Trump meets NATO leaders after Rutte praises his ‘motion on Iran’

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President Donald Trump is ready to take the primary stage on the second day of the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands — providing a surprisingly cordial tone towards the alliance he has lengthy criticized.

The president is scheduled to fulfill with NATO Secretary Basic Mark Rutte and different world leaders earlier than holding a press convention.

Trump additionally mentioned he'll "most likely" greet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who's attending the summit amid his ongoing push for Ukraine to join NATO .

In textual content messages shared by Trump, Rutte congratulated him for "making Europe pay in a giant method" by means of a brand new 5% protection spending goal — and for brokering an finish to the current battle between Israel and Iran.

TRUMP HEADS TO NATO SUMMIT AS EUROPE AGREES TO HEED HIS DEFENSE SPENDING DEMANDS

Trump departs for the NATO Summit the place world leaders will come to an settlement to spice up their protection spending to five% of GDP. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos)

"Congratulations and thanks on your decisive motion on Iran. That was actually extraordinary, and one thing nobody else dared to do," Rutte wrote as Trump flew towards the summit. "It makes us all safer."

Israel and Iran entered right into a U.S.-brokered ceasefire on Tuesday that nearly fell aside — although Israel known as off its counterattack at Trump's urging.

"You're flying into one other massive success in The Hague this night," Rutte added, referencing the brand new settlement for NATO members to extend protection spending to five% of GDP.

NATO allies first agreed in 2006 to spend 2% of GDP on protection — a purpose many failed to fulfill for years. Now, after Trump’s repeated requires Europe to "pull its weight," the alliance has authorised a extra ambitious 5% target , with an exception for Spain, which has lengthy struggled to fulfill even the unique benchmark.

The brand new determine breaks down into 3.5% for core protection spending, and 1.5% for associated infrastructure, together with cyberwarfare and intelligence. NATO ambassadors agreed on the compromise textual content Sunday.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE UPCOMING NATO SUMMIT: TRUMP, SPENDING, UKRAINE, IRAN

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/343/192/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/686/384/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/720/405/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1440/810/2025-06-24t161524z_1530587268_rc249fa2r50t_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> NATO Secretary Basic Mark Rutte congratulated Trump on the Iran ceasefire and convincing Europe to extend its protection spending ( Nicolas Tucat/Reuters)

For many allies, the goal marks a major leap. Poland presently leads all member states with 4.1% of GDP going towards protection. The U.S. stands at 3.4%.

Trump mentioned he doesn’t consider the U.S. wants to achieve the total 5% threshold — a place backed by Rutte.

"America is already spending nearly 3.5% on core protection, and little doubt they're near spending the 1.5% on defense-related gadgets," Rutte mentioned. "Nations like Estonia and Poland are very shut. For a lot of others, it should nonetheless be an extended street forward, but it surely’s actually necessary that we do that."

<source media="(max-width: 767px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/343/192/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/686/384/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="192" width="343"><source media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1023px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/672/378/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1344/756/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="378" width="672"><source media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1279px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/931/523/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1862/1046/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="523" width="931"><source media="(min-width: 1280px)" srcset="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/720/405/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1, https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1440/810/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1 2x" height="405" width="720"> <img src="https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2025/06/1200/675/2025-06-24t174800z_858612833_rc259fa0tctn_rtrmadp_3_nato-summit-scaled.jpg?ve=1&tl=1" alt="Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives at a dinner for NATO heads of states and government hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima, on the sidelines of a NATO Summit, at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025." width="1200" height="675"/> Trump additionally mentioned he'll "most likely" greet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who's attending the summit amid his ongoing push for Ukraine to hitch NATO. (Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

He additionally known as on protection industries "on each side of the Atlantic" to ramp up manufacturing.

"It's merely unthinkable that Russia, with an financial system 25 occasions smaller than NATO’s, ought to be capable of outproduce and outgun us," Rutte mentioned Tuesday. He urged Europe: "Make your defenses so robust that nobody dares to assault you."

Regardless of the progress, Trump solid contemporary doubt on whether or not the U.S. would abide by NATO’s cornerstone mutual protection clause — Article 5 — which obligates members to defend each other within the occasion of an assault.

"It is determined by your definition," Trump mentioned when requested if he would honor the dedication. "There’s quite a few definitions of Article 5, you realize that, proper? However I am dedicated to being their mates. I've turn out to be mates with a lot of these leaders, and I am dedicated to serving to them."