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President Trump, on Tuesday, will go to Brussels for a swirling of NATO in Hague, the Netherlands, a few hours after having announced that Iran and Israel had reached a cease-fire contract.
The president hoped to obtain during the summit a commitment from the NATO allies to spend at least 5% of the GDP for the defense. But one day before his arrival, the Alliance had already accepted the boost of defense expenses, according to Matthew Whitaker, US NATO ambassador. He told journalists during a briefing on Monday that after Mr. Trump’s management, NATO was “on the right track” to make this “historic commitment” of 5%.
The United States spent around 3.4% of GDP in defense in 2023, but the president said he thought that the United States should not have the same target of 5%.
“We have supported NATO for so long, in many cases, I believe, paying almost 100% of the cost,” he told journalists on Friday. “So, I don’t think we should, but I think NATO countries should, absolutely.”
However, there is no clear calendar for the 5% commitment, and reaching this threshold could extend in the 2030s for some NATO countries, fueling criticism that the promise of 5% could be empty.
Aside from the conflict in the Middle East, the Russian war against Ukraine continues to be a concern for NATO members. It is not yet clear if the United States will support Language citing Russia as the main threat to NATO in its press release – Whitaker avoided directly by answering the question of a journalist on this subject.
“The negotiations concerning the press release are still underway, so I will not be able to comment directly on the specific language,” said Whitaker, adding: “I expect the summit declaration to be direct, and reflect the current evaluation of allies threats and the need for collective defense and the individual defense of all allies.”
He said the United States “call for restraint and [urging] The two parties to avoid climbing “, and he continued by saying that the United States is” engaged at the highest level “and supports direct talks between Russia and Ukraine.
Shortly before the summit on Saturday, the United States carried out targeting strikes Three Iranian sites considered the key to Iran nuclear program. This decision sparked fears of a broader war, but Iran’s response on Monday was limited. Iran fired more than a dozen missiles in a American base in QatarMost of which have been intercepted, and no injury has been reported, said US and Qatari officials.
Trump described “very weak” reprisals, and he declared in another article on social networks that he wanted to “thank Iran for having given us an early notice, which did not lose any life”. The supreme head of Iran, Ali Khamenei, also underlined in a social media position after the Iranian strikes, “we did not hurt anyone”.
In a few hours, Trump announced that Iran and Israel would implement a ceasefire and end the war.
NATO summit will have a single two and a half hour session, instead of several sessions. Trump also plans to meet separately with several world leaders on the sidelines, a senior American official said on Friday at a call conference.
The president leaves for the early Tuesday morning summit and returns on Wednesday.
The OPNI, the organization of the North Atlantic Treaty, is the largest defense alliance in the world, with 32 members, including the United States, it was formed following the Second World War, and has increased since, with its latest additions in Finland in 2023 and Sweden in 2024. Helping Ukraine counte-l’Agression of Russia has been a higher priority for NATO, although Ukraine is not a member of Ukraine the otat.
contributed to this report.
