Mark Rutte, NATO’s Secretary General, visited the White House on Wednesday (8 April) for a meeting with United States President Donald Trump. Over the course of the US-Isreal war against Iran, Trump berated NATO allies for resisting his calls to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz to ease rising global oil prices.
Following the meeting, Trump posted to Truth Social:
"NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”
Rutte described the meeting as "very frank" and "very open", despite disagreements.
Rutte told CNN: ”The large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights".
"It's therefore a nuanced picture," Rutte said.
Asked if the world was safer now than it was before the war, Rutte said "absolutely" and credited that to Trump's "leadership" in degrading Iran's nuclear threats.
He added NATO members do not see the war in Iran as illegal, and most agreed it was important to degrade Iran's nuclear capabilities.
Trump included his frustrations over Greenland in his Truth social post after the meeting with Rutte, by saying: "REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!"
Source: commonspace.eu with the BBC
