NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday used a White House meeting to try and convince U.S. President Donald Trump that the alliance was meeting its defence spending commitments and creating economic benefits for the U.S., relying on visual aids while pushing back on Trump’s criticisms of allies.
Trump and his top administration officials have complained that European allies didn’t help the U.S. carry out its initial strikes in the war with Iran, and have openly mulled reducing U.S. contributions to NATO or even questioning its membership entirely as a result.
Rutte’s visit to Washington also comes two weeks before the annual NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey, putting further pressure on the secretary-general to soothe Trump’s anger.
Rutte, as he has done in the past, acknowledged Trump’s disappointment but also sought to make the case that NATO allies remain reliable partners in collective defence.
Rutte also noted that 4,000 to 5,000 U.S. planes took off from bases in Europe before Iran and the U.S. agreed to a ceasefire.
“I know there have been isolated cases about which you have been really disappointed, but generally speaking, your European allies have been there with you,” he told Trump.
Rutte then walked over to a series of charts displayed on easels showing the effect Trump has had on getting European and Canadian allies to boost defence spending, which he said has increased by a collective US$250 billion since the beginning of 2025.
“I can assure you that this is because of Russia, because of the threat, but I am also absolutely convinced that you being president of the United States” is also a factor, Rutte said while pointing at Trump.
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“This,” he added, pointing back at the charts, “is your evidence.”
He then claimed that roughly half of that spending has been on U.S.-produced defence equipment, creating over 112,000 American jobs, plus another 83,000 jobs from European defence companies investing in the U.S.
“Very interesting,” Trump said after Rutte concluded his presentation.
Yet Trump proceeded to again criticize allies for not immediately meeting the new five per cent of GDP defence spending target he pushed for, prompting Rutte to once again gently push back.
“It’s a bit of a mixed bag, but most of them are doing it,” Rutte said about the spending increases. “And the alliance is so much stronger because of this.”
Trump singled out Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and “horror show” Spain for not helping at the start of the Iran war, even though he insisted that “we didn’t need help.”
“I appreciate your nice words,” he told Rutte. “You really have done a good job. And I think if anybody else were in that position, we wouldn’t even be meeting today, to be honest with you, because we were let down.”
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth last week announced a six-month review of U.S. troop levels in Europe that he said would be contingent on whether allies are spending enough on defence.
Canada finally met the old NATO defence spending target of two per cent of GDP this year, which the government says was due to an additional $63 billion in investments.
Pentagon officials, however, have criticized Canada for not showing “credible” plans on meeting the new five per cent spending target, an argument echoed by Canadian defence experts but refuted by Ottawa.
Trump on Wednesday did not mention Canada in his list of countries he’s angry with.
Canada helped American citizens trying to escape the Middle East after the initial strikes on Iran, Global News reported last month.
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke with Trump Wednesday ahead of the NATO summit next month, Carney’s office confirmed in a one-sentence statement that did not say what the two leaders discussed.
The U.S. never consulted with European allies before it launched the war on Iran alongside Israel on Feb. 28.
Trump nevertheless argues that NATO allies were not there for the U.S. and has suggested leaving the alliance, which was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union.
At the heart of the NATO Charter is Article 5 a mutual defence agreement in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. The only time it has been invoked was in 2001, to support the U.S. after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
—with files from Global’s Alex Boutilier and the Associated Press
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
