Trump again questions NATO's collective defense guarantee ahead of summit
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — President Donald Trump on Wednesday once again raised questions about America's commitment to defend its allies should they come under attack as he prepared to join a NATO summit in the Netherlands.
Just as he did during his first term in office, Trump suggested that his backing would depend on whether U.S. allies are spending enough on defense. He's demanded that European allies and Canada dedicate 5% of GDP to their security.
On the eve of the meeting in The Hague, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that his commitment to Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty – the organization's collective security guarantee – 'depends on your definition.'
'There's numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right?' Trump said. 'But I'm committed to being their friends.' He signaled that he would give a more precise definition of what Article 5 means to him once he is at the summit.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump suggested that he as president would not necessarily heed the alliance's mutual defense guarantee. In March this year, he expressed uncertainty that NATO would come to the United States' defense if needed.
Article 5 is the foundation stone on which the 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organization is built. It states that an armed attack against one or more of the members shall be considered an attack against all members.
It also states that if such an armed attack occurs, each member would take, individually and in concert with others, 'such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area.''
That security guarantee is the reason previously neutral Finland and Sweden sought to join NATO after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and why Ukraine itself and other countries in Europe also want in.
Article 5 was only invoked once, in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States, paving the way for NATO's biggest ever operation in Afghanistan.
But NATO allies have also taken collective defense measures, including joining the U.S. to fight the Islamic State group in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as help keep the peace in the Balkans.
The Three Musketeers-like pledge of all for one, one for all, is at the heart of NATO's deterrent effect. To question it too loudly might invite an adversary to test it. European officials have said that Russia is planning to do just that.
NATO's credibility hinges on Article 5 and its commitment to offer membership to any European country that can contribute to security in Europe and North America.
But Ukraine, currently in the middle of war with Russia , might oblige all 32 member countries to spring to its defense militarily, potentially igniting a wider war with a nuclear-armed country. Trump is vetoing its membership for the foreseeable future.
Article 5 becomes problematic when the territory of a member is unclear. For instance, Russian forces entered Georgia in August 2008, a few months after NATO leaders first promised the country it would join, along with Ukraine.
Georgia's NATO application is still pending but seems unlikely for many years. Russia continues to occupy large swaths of Ukraine and other parts are contested, meaning that its borders cannot be easily defined.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
14 minutes ago
- USA Today
NATO commits to higher spending sought by Trump and mutual defense
While Trump got what he wanted at the brief NATO summit, his allies will be relieved he committed to the fundamental principle of collective defense. THE HAGUE, June 25 (Reuters) - NATO leaders on June 25 backed the big increase in defense spending that President Donald Trump had demanded, and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack. While Trump got what he wanted at the brief summit, tailor-made for him, his NATO allies will be relieved that he committed to the fundamental principle of collective defense after less clear-cut language on June 24. In a five-point statement, NATO endorsed a higher defence spending goal of 5% of GDP by 2035 - a response not only to Trump but also to Europeans' fears that Russia poses a growing threat to their security following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. More: Israel-Iran ceasefire seems to hold as Trump lands in Europe for NATO summit The 32 allies' brief communique added: "We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defense as enshrined in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty – that an attack on one is an attack on all." Asked to clarify his own stance on Article 5, Trump said: "I stand with it. That's why I'm here. If I didn't stand with it, I wouldn't be here." Macron brings up trade war at NATO summit Trump had long demanded in no uncertain terms that for other countries step up their spending on defense to reduce NATO's heavy reliance on the U.S. Despite an appearance of general agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron raised the issue of the steep import tariffs threatened by Trump, and the damage they may do to transatlantic trade, as a barrier to increased defense spending. More: Can Trump pull off peace plans, trade deals at the G7? What to know about the summit "You cannot come to us as allies and ask that we spend more, tell us we will spend more at NATO - and do a trade war. It's an aberration," he told reporters. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who hosted the summit in his home city of The Hague, said NATO would emerge as a 'stronger, fairer and more lethal' alliance. He had earlier acknowledged that it was not easy for European countries and Canada to find the extra money, but said it was vital to do so. "There is absolute conviction with my colleagues at the table that, given this threat from the Russians, given the international security situation, there is no alternative," the former Dutch prime minister told reporters in his home city of The Hague. The new spending target - to be achieved over the next 10 years - is a jump worth hundreds of billions of dollars a year from the current goal of 2% of GDP, although it will be measured differently. Countries would spend 3.5% of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5% on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles. All NATO members have backed a statement enshrining the target, although Spain declared it does not need to meet the goal and can meet its commitments by spending much less. More: Trump says US strike impaired Iran's nukes. What does Pentagon say? Live updates Rutte disputes that but accepted a diplomatic fudge with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as part of his efforts to give Trump a diplomatic victory and make the summit go smoothly. Spain said on June 25 that it did not expect its stance to have any repercussions. Trump meets Zelenskyy after summit Rutte kept the summit and its final statement short and focused on the spending pledge to try to avert any friction with Trump. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had to settle for attending the pre-summit June 24 dinner rather than the main meeting on June 25, although he met Trump separately after the conference ended. The Kremlin on June 24 accused NATO of being on a path of rampant militarization and portraying Russia as a "fiend of hell" in order to justify its big increase in defense spending.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why gasoline prices aren't tumbling along with sinking oil
Oil futures tumbled again Tuesday on hopes that the shaky ceasefire between Israel and Iran would reduce if not eliminate the risk any significant disruption to global energy markets. Gasoline futures fell, too. So when will you notice prices falling at the pump? It may be a while. Because gas prices didn't shoot significantly higher over the past two weeks after Israel and Iran began their recent hostilities, you probably won't notice any big savings anytime soon. The national average gasoline price stood at $3.12 on June 10 according to AAA, just before oil and gasoline prices started their climb on rising concerns about a conflict in the days before the fighting started between Israel and Iran. The so-called New York harbor prices for gasoline futures closed at a wholesale price of only $2.09. A barrel of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil closed at $66.60 that day. Both wholesale gasoline and oil futures stared rising steadily June 11 and continued to climb through the early hours of trading this past Sunday night, after the US bombing of nuclear sites in Iran raised fears of a broader conflict. Brent Crude futures briefly topped $80 a barrel late Sunday. But throughout the day Monday as those fears of a wider conflict retreated and hopes for a cease fire increased, the price of oil started falling sharply. Oil Monday closed down 7% at $70.65 a barrel, while a so-called New York harbor prices for gasoline futures fell about 5% to a wholesale price of $2.22 a gallon. And the wholesale prices fell another 5% in midday trading Tuesday to a $2.09 price, essentially matching the price before the recent run-up. The AAA average retail price for a gallon of regular gasoline stood Monday at $3.22, based on a survey of gas stations conducted on Sunday, and it remains there in Tuesday's reading. But that means there was only a 3% rise in pump prices from June 10 to today's level, so there's not a lot of room for prices to fall to go back to pre-conflict levels. Tom Kloza, an independent oil and gasoline price expert, said he could see prices starting to decline a little bit in the coming days as stations take deliveries of cheaper wholesale gas. The seasonal pick-up in summer driving will stop prices from falling significantly in the coming weeks, he believes. But he does think that a glut of oil on global markets and strong US refining capacity could send prices down sharply through the rest of this year once the peak July demand wanes. 'It looks like we're well supplied, and that's bearish for prices,' he said. The strong supply has little to do with President Donald Trump's 'drill, baby, drill' call to increase production. Overall US production is roughly unchanged from this time last year and it's not likely to increase significantly at the current prices, Kloza said, especially with 50% tariffs on imported steel raising the cost of the pipes used in oil exploration. The price of oil futures did not spike as high as during some past global incidents, such as Russia's attack on Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on Russia by western nations that followed. In that case Brent prices soared 44% from early January 2022 through early March of that year. But Kloza said there isn't as much speculative money in oil futures markets as there used to driving up prices in reaction to external events. 'That money is much more likely to go into crypto and to go into big tech today,' he said. 'There's only so much money to go around.' Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
New York Times
14 minutes ago
- New York Times
Mushy Wording Lets NATO Commit to Trump's Military Spending Demand
NATO leaders agreed on Wednesday to a goal of spending 5 percent of their gross domestic product on defense. But that doesn't mean each member nation will actually spend that much. The difference lies in a bit of mushy diplomatic language that lets the NATO secretary general, Mark Rutte, claim that he delivered on a spending demand issued by President Trump. The brief and unanimously approved communiqué that NATO issued after leaders wrapped up their annual summit says that 'allies' — not 'all allies' — had agreed to the 5 percent figure. Mr. Trump floated that target, up from the current 2 percent, early this year in a push to have Europe and Canada spend more on their militaries instead of relying on the United States for security. At the time, few believed it was realistic, given that nine of NATO's 32 member countries still had not reached the 2 percent spending pledge that was set in 2014. Several were balking at the 5 percent commitment as recently as Wednesday, emboldened by an assertion last weekend by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain that 'we're not going to do it.' Mr. Sanchez said Spain would spend 2.1 percent of its G.D.P. on defense, 'no more, no less,' because that was all his country needed to meet military capability targets set by NATO. Spain currently spends about 1.28 percent of G.D.P. on defense, according to the most recent official figures available. The language compromise, struck between Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Rutte last weekend, let both sides claim victory. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
