‘Europe is going to pay in a BIG way,’ says NATO chief in private message to Trump; US President makes it public

Donald Trump received a series of messages praising him for his decisive action in the Iran-Israel war, and criticising Europe in private, which the US President made public. He shared screenshots of the messages sent by Mark Rutte. 

“Mr President, dear Donald, congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer. You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed into 5 per cent. Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done. Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win. Safe travels and see you at His Majesty’s dinner,” said Mark Rutte. 

Trump has, meanwhile, landed in the Netherlands for the NATO summit. According to Reuters, Rutte also kept the summit and its final statement short and focused on the spending pledge to satisfy Trump. The text is expected to cite Russia as a threat and reaffirm allies' support for Ukraine, it said. 

European allies aim to secure a pledge to increase defence spending, hoping it will reassure Trump about his commitment to the alliance. The summit is set to endorse a new defence spending target of 5 per cent of GDP. NATO officials hope the recent conflict between Israel and Iran, along with the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites, will not overshadow the meeting. The summit is hosted by alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte in his home city.

Trump has warned he may not protect NATO members who do not meet spending targets. 

Rutte’s messages to Trump come after the US struck Iran’s nuclear facilities. While Trump emphasised that the strike obliterated the nuclear facilities in Iran, a new report by the Defence Intelligence Agency said that the nuclear sites were not ‘obliterated’, but acknowledged that it was set back by a few months. 

In response, Trump lashed out at CNN and New York Times and accused them of teaming “up in an attempt to demean one of the most successful military strikes in history”.