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August 19, 2025
NATO Secretary General Says Trump ‘Was Right’ To Criticize Alliance: 'I Think This Is, And I Hope Americans See This, Probably One Of His Biggest Foreign Policy Successes Of Trump 47'
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Monday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that President Donald Trump’s initial criticism of the intergovernmental organization “was right.”
Trump on Monday met with world leaders, including the heads of the European Union and NATO, to discuss potential plans for ending the long-fueling war between Ukraine and Russia. While discussing the plans, Fox’s Laura Ingraham asked Rutte what Trump had been like “behind closed doors,” adding that critics have claimed the president wanted to “ruin” NATO.
“Well, he was amazing, and he is amazing. And let me tell you this, that his criticism of NATO was right. What he was saying is that the U.S. is spending so much more on its defense and therefore spending on the collective defense of NATO territory than the Europeans,” Rutte said.
“The great thing is, and I think this is, and I hope the Americans see this, probably one of his biggest foreign policy successes of Trump 47 is that during the NATO summit, we committed collectively to this 5% spending, including 3.5% on the core defense spending,” Rutte said. “That’s the same the U.S. is spending. So now we are equalizing what the U.S. is spending, what the Europeans are spending, and he has therefore taken a different view.”
After billions of taxpayer dollars were spent under the Biden administration to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia, Trump, in June, pressed NATO members to agree to raise their defense spending. The commitment among the 32 members will see NATO’s defense spending rise from 2% of gross domestic product to 5% by 2035.
The move comes after Trump had long criticized members for failing to meet their obligated spending of at least 2% of GDP, forcing the U.S. to shoulder billions in European defense costs. Following the decision, NATO also agreed to pay for U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles to be sent to Ukraine in July after shipments were paused for a review of U.S. stockpiles.
Rutte went on to say that Trump has succeeded in holding NATO accountable and has played a critical role bringing both sides of the Ukraine-Russia conflict to the table.
“He always said that he supported NATO, but he also expected the Europeans to pay up, to spend more. He has been successful in doing this,” Rutte said. “So, today, the conversation was a conversation among friends, among close allies who respect each other, who like each other, who know each other very well, discussing how we can bring this terrible war to an end.”
“And this is a goal we all have in common. And without President Trump, this deadlock with Putin would not have been broken. He was the only one who could do this, starting in February,” Rutte said.
The meeting with world leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Monday comes just days after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska. While the long-awaited summit between Putin and Trump did not result in an official agreement, both leaders told the press that negotiations are moving in the right direction.
During a Friday interview on Fox, Trump said Zelenskyy and Putin are expected to meet officially, hinting that he might join the two.
Full Interview below.
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