It’s a good thing Donald Trump was reelected as U.S. president as NATO allies wouldn’t have boosted defense spending without him, the military alliance’s Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday.
Rutte’s remarks in Davos come as Trump steps up his threats to seize Greenland from Denmark, in a move that would undermine the decades-long transatlantic alliance — perhaps fatally.
“I’m not popular with you now because I’m defending Donald Trump, but I really believe you can be happy that he is there because he has forced us in Europe to step up, to face the consequences that we have to take care of more of our own defense,” Rutte said at a panel discussion titled “Can Europe defend itself?” at the World Economic Forum.
According to Rutte, the big economies in Europe — including Spain, Italy and France — would have never agreed to allocate 2 percent of their GDP to defense if Trump had not become the U.S. president again.
“No way, without Donald Trump this would never have happened. They’re all on 2 percent now,” Rutte said. “I’m absolutely convinced without Donald Trump you would not have taken those decisions and they are crucial, particularly for the European and the Canadian side of NATO to really grow up in the post-Cold War world.”
Rutte’s own country, the Netherlands, which he led as prime minister for 14 years from 2010 to 2024, has been accused of underspending on defense on his watch.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has forced European countries to ramp up defense spending, while also preparing for a potential drawdown of American troops on the continent as Trump shifts America’s military priorities.
“The Americans still have over 80,000 soldiers in Europe … including in Poland and Germany and so they are still heavily invested in European defense. And yes, they have to pivot more towards Asia. So it is only logical for them to expect us, Europe, to step up over time,” Rutte continued, adding that the nuclear umbrella is the ultimate guarantee.
NATO allies reached a deal last summer on setting a new defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP by 2035. That demand was originally raised by Trump, who has repeatedly worried allies that he might walk away from the military alliance that underpins European security.
*politico*
