The US maintains its commitment to NATO but demands a 5% reduction in military spending in Europe.

BrusselsDonald Trump threatens to upend the world order that has reigned in the West since World War II. He wants to disengage from European security and has launched a trade war against the European Union. However, Thursday's foreign ministerial summit seemed to be in a parallel reality, with Washington and Brussels still maintain their historical ties intact"All this hysteria is unjustified [...]. President Trump has made it clear that he supports NATO and we will remain in NATO," asserted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who participated for the first time in a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Praise has not only come from the US. The Secretary General of the military entity, Mark Rutte, has also been quick to praise the "firm commitment" of the Trump administration. Thus, once again, the Dutch leader has downplayed the fact that the White House is threatening to annex Greenland and violate the territorial integrity of another transatlantic ally, Denmark. "The important thing is the security of the Arctic," Rutte simply responded. Along the same lines, he has not valued the barrage of tariffs announced by Trump on Wednesday against states that are part of the Atlantic Alliance itself.

Good words about the United States have also been heard from NATO foreign ministers, especially from countries geographically closer to Russia and who feel the threat of Russian expansionism most proximate. "I trust the US," said Czech Jan Jipavsky. "The US government is clear in saying it supports NATO," welcomed Norwegian Espen Barth Eide. "It is a very important ally, both for the security and prosperity of Europe," added Dutchman Caspar Veldkamp. Similarly, the foreign ministers of Lithuania and Estonia, among others, made similar statements.

Now, Rubio has reaffirmed the United States' commitment to NATO with one condition: that European allies allocate at least 5% of their gross domestic product (GDP) to military spending. "We want to leave here knowing that we are realistically heading towards 5%," stressed the US Secretary of State, who insisted that the US wants to be in a NATO with "the military capabilities it needs" and not have to act as an umbrella protecting Europe.

At this point, this minimum stands at 2%, and the Atlantic Alliance assumes that at the June summit in The Hague, an agreement will be reached to raise the rate to 3% or 3.5%. For the moment, there is still no talk of reaching 5%, as Rubio requested this Thursday and as Trump has already hinted at on other occasions. In fact, there are a dozen member states that have not yet reached even 2% and, for example, Spain is still at 1.28%.

In any case, Rutte has assured that the United States will not abandon its protection of Europe in the short or medium term and that under no circumstances would they leave their Atlantic allies in the lurch in the face of Russian aggression, as Trump said during the election campaign. "There are no plans for [US troops] to suddenly reduce their presence here in Europe," the Dutch leader wanted to make clear.

Trump's efforts to achieve peace

The foreign ministers also did not criticize the United States' rapprochement with Vladimir Putin's regime or the fact that it has weakened Volodymyr Zelensky's position in negotiations to agree on a ceasefire or end the conflict. Thus, they have generally limited themselves to advocating for "a lasting peace" in Ukraine and avoided criticizing the Trump administration's role in the war in Ukraine. Rutte even praised the "efforts" the New York tycoon is making to achieve peace in Ukraine.

However, the tone of the interventions and the atmosphere of Thursday's summit in Brussels contrast with the last NATO defense ministerial. At that time, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth harshly criticized his counterparts and indicated that he was completely unconcerned about the security of European allies. Furthermore, he made major concessions to Putin and already assumed that Ukraine would not join the NATO and would not recover the territories occupied by Russia.

As NATO diplomatic sources summarize, Rubio and Hegseth's actions "have nothing to do with each other" and assure that the collaboration between European and American representatives behind closed doors "is good," as has also appeared on camera. And that's why this Thursday at the NATO offices in Brussels, it almost seemed as if Trump had not returned to the White House or threatened to overturn the world order.