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Mark Rutte says the US would risk isolation if the Republican candidate decides to withdraw from the military alliance.
New NATO chief Mark Rutte has allayed anxiety over the possible election of Donald Trump, arguing that the US would risk isolation in "a tough and uncompromising world" if he sought to withdraw from the military alliance.
Speaking in London on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rutte said he believed both Trump and his presidential rival Kamala Harris recognized the value of continued military aid to Ukraine.
But 10 days into the job as secretary-general, the Dutchman also responded to concerns raised by the Republican candidate that Europe's defense spending levels would need to rise and indicated that a new target of 2.5% or 3% of GDP- could have been decided.
In an interview with the Guardian, Rutte insisted that he is not worried about Donald Trump, nor about Kamala Harris, as he went on to describe the former president as "someone who wants to protect the US". This, he argued, required NATO membership.
" Without membership he is alone and in a harsh and uncompromising world he needs the alliance ," said Rutte.
Trump has long been a NATO skeptic, arguing that the US contributes too much to Europe, and at one point in his 2018 presidency he reportedly considered leaving the alliance. In March, however, the Republican candidate said he would stay in NATO as long as European countries "play fair" and don't "take advantage" of high levels of US defense spending.
Rutte said he believed defense spending in Europe would have to rise from the existing average of 2% of GDP in all 31 NATO members except the US.
" Now we're at 2%, but clearly it's not enough because we can look at all the skills gaps, the targets we have, and then we really need to do more ," he said.
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