Rutte to meet Trump in Washington amid U.S. president's criticism of NATO

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will begin his visit to the United States on Wednesday, which will last until April 12, the NATO headquarters in Brussels announced.

„The Secretary General will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth,“ the organization's press release stated.

It was reported that on April 9, Rutte will deliver a speech and participate in a discussion organized by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute.

From April 10 to 12, the NATO Secretary General will take part in the Bilderberg Club conference.

Rutte's meetings with U.S. leadership come after Trump has repeatedly and harshly criticized the stance of European NATO allies for refusing to engage in military actions in the Middle East undertaken by the United States and Israel.

The American president has stated that he might cut funding for NATO. He criticized allies for their unwillingness to participate in operations to secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and threatened to halt weapon supplies to Ukraine through the PURL (Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List) mechanism, which is funded by Europe.

In Trump's view, NATO has tarnished its reputation by refusing to assist the U.S. in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.

„This stain will never fade from my memory,“ he said on April 6 at the White House, referring to NATO's response to the U.S. request for help in unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump emphasized that he is „very disappointed“ with the alliance. „They first said: we’ll do this, we’ll do that... But in reality, they tried their hardest not to help us,“ he noted.

At the same time, the president reiterated that Russia does not fear NATO and once again called the alliance a „paper tiger.“

However, he referred to NATO Secretary General Rutte as a „great guy“ and added that he would be coming for a meeting on April 8.

Source: Interfax