NATO Chief Meets With Trump Amid Rising Tensions With Russia

President-elect Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 22.
“[Trump and Rutte] discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance,” according to the statement.
Rutte also met with Trump’s prospective national security team members, including Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.), whom Trump has chosen to serve as his White House national security adviser.
A former prime minister of the Netherlands, Rutte assumed the role of NATO secretary-general in October.
The Nov. 22 meeting appears to be the first between Rutte and Trump since the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
Following Trump’s election win, the NATO chief said he looked forward to working with Trump and echoed the president-elect’s calls for the various NATO members to step up their defense spending.
During his first term in the Oval Office, Trump criticized the NATO alliance and pressured member states to step up their defense spending to meet the pledge to contribute 2 percent of their gross domestic product to their militaries.
Trump has also indicated that he would prefer to quickly negotiate an end to the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war.
It remains to be seen how Trump will handle negotiations to end the Russia–Ukraine war and whether he will stay the course set by the administration of President Joe Biden if his negotiations fail to bring a quick end to the war.
The Biden administration has moved to free up weapons and financial support for Ukraine in Biden’s final weeks in office.
Reports have indicated that the Biden administration has also permitted Ukraine to begin using U.S.-made long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia’s borders. The administration has yet to confirm this policy change.
Reported Western decisions to permit Ukrainian long-range strikes inside Russia have already escalated tensions.