‘Blood on his hands': Pakistan turn on Donald Trump over Nobel Peace Prize furore
A former Pakistani opposition leader has claimed Donald Trump's hands are 'stained with blood', calling for his nation to withdraw its Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the US president.
Over the weekend, Pakistan revealed it would formally recommend Mr Trump for the prestigious award for his role in resolving the recent conflict with India.
News of the nomination arrived just before Mr Trump confirmed US strikes on nuclear sites in Iran.
The fast-developing situation has since evolved into a tenuous ceasefire between Iran and Israel, which saw Republican congressman Buddy Carter nominate the US President for the Nobel Peace Prize on Tuesday 'in recognition of his extraordinary and historic role in brokering an end to the armed conflict'.
The ceasefire appeared to hold after the first night with Mr Trump lambasting both sides in the aftermath of the US' attack on Iran's nuclear sites over the weekend.
While the US President called it an 'obliteration' of Iran's nuclear capabilities, bombshell reports have since emerged that the nation's nuclear program remains intact.
'President Trump's influence was instrumental in forging a swift agreement that many believed to be impossible,' Mr Carter wrote in the letter.
'President Trump also took bold, decisive actions to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions and ensure that the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism remains incapable of acquiring nuclear weapons.'
Nobel Peace Prize nominations can come from heads of state down to politicians serving at a national level, international courts of law as well as university chancellors and professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology, directors of foreign policy institutes, past recipients of a Nobel prize and members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
But the support in Pakistan appears to be wavering after the US' actions in Iran.
On Saturday, Pakistan's government praised President Trump's 'great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship', adding he was a 'genuine peacemaker'.
On Sunday, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the US attack on Iran, stating the move violated international law.
'The unprecedented escalation of tension and violence, owing to ongoing aggression against Iran is deeply disturbing,' Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
'Any further escalation of tensions will have severely damaging implications for the region and beyond.'
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement that he had contacted Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and 'conveyed Pakistan's condemnation of the US attacks'.
It comes as thousands protested in the streets of Pakistan's biggest city Karachi against the US and Israeli strikes.
Pakistani politicians have also called for their government to withdraw their nomination.
President of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party and former leader of the opposition Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman called for his nation to withdraw its nomination.
'President Trump's claim of peace has proven to be false; the proposal for the Nobel prize should be withdrawn,' Rehman told party members at a meeting on Sunday.
'Trump has supported the Israeli attacks on Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and Iran. How can this be a sign of peace?
'How can a man with the blood of Afghans and Palestinians on his hands claim to be a peacemaker?'
Similarly former senator Mushahid Hussain said on X: 'Since Trump is no longer a potential peacemaker, but a leader who has wilfully unleashed an illegal war, Pakistan government must now review, rescind and revoke his Nobel nomination!'
Veteran politician Afrasiab Khattak posted on X: 'The sycophancy adopted by Pakistani ruling elite in nominating President Trump for Nobel Peace Prize is not part of normative conduct in international diplomacy. It was most embarrassing to announce the nomination hours before Trump ordered to bomb Iranian nuclear sites.'
In more bad news for Mr Trump, senior Ukrainian politician Oleksandr Merezhko withdrew his Nobel Peace Prize nomination for the US President, claiming he'd lost 'any kind of faith' that he could end the war in Ukraine.
Mr Merezhko nominated Trump in late 2024, telling The Telegraph he believed it would help the then president-elect to follow through on his promises of ending the war.
In May 2023, Mr Trump said he could settle the war between Russia and Ukraine in '24 hours', a claim he repeated 53 times throughout the campaign according to a CNN fact check.
He walked the claim back in an interview with Time, saying he 'said that figuratively, and I said that as an exaggeration, to make a point'.
'Obviously, people know that when I said that, it was said in jest, but it was also said that it will be ended,' he added.
Since taking office, Mr Trump has had a disastrous meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office, while Russia and Ukraine appear to be no closer to peace as the US President's attention turns to the Middle East.
In a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Mr Merezhko wrote: 'This appeasement of aggression encourages Putin to continue the attack. Trump just turns a blind eye to all of it.
'I lost any kind of faith that Trump will deliver in any of his promises.'
Of Mr Trump's actions in the Middle East, Mr Merezhko said: 'I understand his position in relation to Israel. It is the right thing to do in order to help Israel to survive because Iran has said they want to destroy Israel.
'I wish he would do the same for Ukraine. Russia also wants to destroy Ukraine. Russia and Iran help each other. Trump should be consistent and help Ukraine.'
However, Mr Trump has renewed support from Israel to achieve his coveted Nobel Peace Prize aspirations.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon warned Iran that any violation to the fragile ceasefire will be met with a 'forceful response'.
But he also praised Mr Trump for his involvement in the ceasefire, saying he 'deserves' a Nobel Peace Prize.
'I think we should thank him for his leadership, for the brave decision that he took, and to recognise the effort of the United States.'
Mr Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times during his presidencies, but has yet to win the award.
It's a fact he is well aware of judging by a post last Friday on Truth Social after he announced a peace deal between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
'I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do,' Mr Trump wrote.
'I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for this, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between India and Pakistan, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize for stopping the War between Serbia and Kosovo.
'No, I won't get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do, including Russia/Ukraine, and Israel/Iran, whatever those outcomes may be, but the people know, and that's all that matters to me.'
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"No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste," he said, calling Trump a "good friend" for more than a decade and praising his role in "finally" persuading European countries to boost military spending. "So doesn't he deserve some praise?" Rutte asked, also noting Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. "And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability - I think he deserves all the praise." Asked about Rutte's comments, Trump later said he appreciated the terms of endearment. "He did it very affectionately," Trump said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has likened US President Donald Trump to a "daddy" intervening in a schoolyard brawl after the Trump repeatedly berated Middle East foes Israel and Iran this week. Talking to reporters alongside Rutte at a NATO alliance summit, Trump again criticised Israel and Iran. "They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can't stop them. Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it's easy to stop them," he said. In response, Rutte laughed and said: "And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop." On Tuesday, after a ceasefire deal, Trump had raised eyebrows by saying Israel and Iran had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing". With the 32-member NATO alliance endeavouring to placate Trump after complaints that it was over-reliant on US financial and military muscle, Rutte was asked if he might be over-flattering the US president. "No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste," he said, calling Trump a "good friend" for more than a decade and praising his role in "finally" persuading European countries to boost military spending. "So doesn't he deserve some praise?" Rutte asked, also noting Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. "And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability - I think he deserves all the praise." Asked about Rutte's comments, Trump later said he appreciated the terms of endearment. "He did it very affectionately," Trump said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has likened US President Donald Trump to a "daddy" intervening in a schoolyard brawl after the Trump repeatedly berated Middle East foes Israel and Iran this week. Talking to reporters alongside Rutte at a NATO alliance summit, Trump again criticised Israel and Iran. "They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can't stop them. Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it's easy to stop them," he said. In response, Rutte laughed and said: "And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop." On Tuesday, after a ceasefire deal, Trump had raised eyebrows by saying Israel and Iran had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing". With the 32-member NATO alliance endeavouring to placate Trump after complaints that it was over-reliant on US financial and military muscle, Rutte was asked if he might be over-flattering the US president. "No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste," he said, calling Trump a "good friend" for more than a decade and praising his role in "finally" persuading European countries to boost military spending. "So doesn't he deserve some praise?" Rutte asked, also noting Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. "And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability - I think he deserves all the praise." Asked about Rutte's comments, Trump later said he appreciated the terms of endearment. "He did it very affectionately," Trump said. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has likened US President Donald Trump to a "daddy" intervening in a schoolyard brawl after the Trump repeatedly berated Middle East foes Israel and Iran this week. Talking to reporters alongside Rutte at a NATO alliance summit, Trump again criticised Israel and Iran. "They've had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can't stop them. Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it's easy to stop them," he said. In response, Rutte laughed and said: "And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop." On Tuesday, after a ceasefire deal, Trump had raised eyebrows by saying Israel and Iran had been fighting "so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing". With the 32-member NATO alliance endeavouring to placate Trump after complaints that it was over-reliant on US financial and military muscle, Rutte was asked if he might be over-flattering the US president. "No, I don't think so. I think it's a bit of a question of taste," he said, calling Trump a "good friend" for more than a decade and praising his role in "finally" persuading European countries to boost military spending. "So doesn't he deserve some praise?" Rutte asked, also noting Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear sites. "And when it comes to Iran, the fact that he took this decisive action, very targeted, to make sure that Iran would not be able to get his hands on a nuclear capability - I think he deserves all the praise." Asked about Rutte's comments, Trump later said he appreciated the terms of endearment. "He did it very affectionately," Trump said.
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He had previously shown no sign of resuming the donations of weaponry to Ukraine that his predecessor Joe Biden had instituted after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Asked directly whether the US would contribute more funding to Ukraine's defence this year, Trump said: "As far as money going, we'll see what happens." The US-made Patriot batteries are critical to shooting down the Russian ballistic missiles that have increasingly rained on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. Dozens of people have been killed over the past week in the capital Kyiv and the southeastern regional capital of Dnipro, local authorities said. Zelenskiy said before Wednesday's meeting that Ukraine was willing to buy more Patriots if the US was unwilling to donate them. He said the talks with Trump were "long and substantive". "Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other." Trump added that he would soon speak once more with Putin, adding: "Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war." Zelenskiy wore a dark suit-style jacket to the meeting in contrast to the more informal military-style garb he was criticised for wearing at a contentious White House meeting with Trump in February. He has since worked to rebuild relations with the US administration, whose overtures to Russia have concerned Ukraine. However, he had to settle for attending the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than the main meeting on Wednesday, which backed the big NATO-wide increase in defence spending that Trump had demanded. Unlike last year, this year's summit declaration contained no mention of future NATO membership for Ukraine. While the statement denounced what it called the long-term threat posed by Russia to European and Atlantic security, it did not directly blame Russia for the invasion as previous declarations have. US President Donald Trump has indicated he will consider providing more of the Patriot missiles that Ukraine wants to defend against Russian strikes, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin "really has to end that war". His remarks came after a 50-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague. Both leaders described it as a positive step in a conflict that Trump described as "more difficult than other wars". During a press conference in which he celebrated his own diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Trump said the Patriots were "very hard to get" but that "we are going to see if we can make some of them available". Zelenskiy mentioned air-defence systems but it was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to more missiles or complete batteries. Trump also left open the possibility of providing more military aid to Ukraine, which has suffered grinding Russian advances on the battlefield in recent months. He had previously shown no sign of resuming the donations of weaponry to Ukraine that his predecessor Joe Biden had instituted after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Asked directly whether the US would contribute more funding to Ukraine's defence this year, Trump said: "As far as money going, we'll see what happens." The US-made Patriot batteries are critical to shooting down the Russian ballistic missiles that have increasingly rained on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. Dozens of people have been killed over the past week in the capital Kyiv and the southeastern regional capital of Dnipro, local authorities said. Zelenskiy said before Wednesday's meeting that Ukraine was willing to buy more Patriots if the US was unwilling to donate them. He said the talks with Trump were "long and substantive". "Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other." Trump added that he would soon speak once more with Putin, adding: "Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war." Zelenskiy wore a dark suit-style jacket to the meeting in contrast to the more informal military-style garb he was criticised for wearing at a contentious White House meeting with Trump in February. He has since worked to rebuild relations with the US administration, whose overtures to Russia have concerned Ukraine. However, he had to settle for attending the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than the main meeting on Wednesday, which backed the big NATO-wide increase in defence spending that Trump had demanded. Unlike last year, this year's summit declaration contained no mention of future NATO membership for Ukraine. While the statement denounced what it called the long-term threat posed by Russia to European and Atlantic security, it did not directly blame Russia for the invasion as previous declarations have. US President Donald Trump has indicated he will consider providing more of the Patriot missiles that Ukraine wants to defend against Russian strikes, adding that Russian President Vladimir Putin "really has to end that war". His remarks came after a 50-minute meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on the sidelines of a NATO summit in The Hague. Both leaders described it as a positive step in a conflict that Trump described as "more difficult than other wars". During a press conference in which he celebrated his own diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, Trump said the Patriots were "very hard to get" but that "we are going to see if we can make some of them available". Zelenskiy mentioned air-defence systems but it was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to more missiles or complete batteries. Trump also left open the possibility of providing more military aid to Ukraine, which has suffered grinding Russian advances on the battlefield in recent months. He had previously shown no sign of resuming the donations of weaponry to Ukraine that his predecessor Joe Biden had instituted after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. Asked directly whether the US would contribute more funding to Ukraine's defence this year, Trump said: "As far as money going, we'll see what happens." The US-made Patriot batteries are critical to shooting down the Russian ballistic missiles that have increasingly rained on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks. Dozens of people have been killed over the past week in the capital Kyiv and the southeastern regional capital of Dnipro, local authorities said. Zelenskiy said before Wednesday's meeting that Ukraine was willing to buy more Patriots if the US was unwilling to donate them. He said the talks with Trump were "long and substantive". "Ukraine is ready to buy this equipment and support American weapons manufacturers," Zelenskiy wrote on X. "We also discussed the potential for co-production of drones. We can strengthen each other." Trump added that he would soon speak once more with Putin, adding: "Look, Vladimir Putin really has to end that war." Zelenskiy wore a dark suit-style jacket to the meeting in contrast to the more informal military-style garb he was criticised for wearing at a contentious White House meeting with Trump in February. He has since worked to rebuild relations with the US administration, whose overtures to Russia have concerned Ukraine. However, he had to settle for attending the pre-summit dinner on Tuesday evening rather than the main meeting on Wednesday, which backed the big NATO-wide increase in defence spending that Trump had demanded. Unlike last year, this year's summit declaration contained no mention of future NATO membership for Ukraine. While the statement denounced what it called the long-term threat posed by Russia to European and Atlantic security, it did not directly blame Russia for the invasion as previous declarations have.
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NATO leaders have backed a big increase in military spending that US President Donald Trump had demanded, and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit in the Netherlands. While Trump got what he wanted at the annual meeting, tailor-made for him, his NATO allies will be relieved that he committed to the military alliance's fundamental principle of collective defence. Trump told a press conference that "we had a great victory here," adding that he hoped that the additional funds would be spent on military hardware made in the United States. However, he threatened to punish Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared it could meet its commitments to NATO while spending much less than the new target of five per cent of GDP. "I think it's terrible. You know, they (Spain) are doing very well ... 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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 military spending. "We can't say we are going to spend more and then, at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war," Macron said, calling it "an aberration". He said he had raised it several times with Trump. 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. The former Dutch prime minister said Trump deserved "all the praise" for getting NATO members to agree on raising defence spending. Asked by a reporter if he had deployed excessive flattery to keep Trump onside during the summit, Rutte said the two men were friends and judgment of his approach was a matter of taste. 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 two per cent of GDP, although it will be measured differently. Countries pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles. NATO leaders have backed a big increase in military spending that US President Donald Trump had demanded, and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit in the Netherlands. While Trump got what he wanted at the annual meeting, tailor-made for him, his NATO allies will be relieved that he committed to the military alliance's fundamental principle of collective defence. Trump told a press conference that "we had a great victory here," adding that he hoped that the additional funds would be spent on military hardware made in the United States. However, he threatened to punish Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared it could meet its commitments to NATO while spending much less than the new target of five per cent of GDP. "I think it's terrible. You know, they (Spain) are doing very well ... And that economy could be blown right out of the water when something bad happens," Trump said, adding that Spain would get a tougher trade deal from the US than other European Union countries. In a five-point statement, NATO endorsed the higher defence spending goal - 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. The 32 allies' brief communique added: "We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence 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." Trump had long demanded in no uncertain terms that other countries step up their spending to reduce NATO's heavy reliance on the US. 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 military spending. "We can't say we are going to spend more and then, at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war," Macron said, calling it "an aberration". He said he had raised it several times with Trump. 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. The former Dutch prime minister said Trump deserved "all the praise" for getting NATO members to agree on raising defence spending. Asked by a reporter if he had deployed excessive flattery to keep Trump onside during the summit, Rutte said the two men were friends and judgment of his approach was a matter of taste. 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 two per cent of GDP, although it will be measured differently. Countries pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles. NATO leaders have backed a big increase in military spending that US President Donald Trump had demanded, and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit in the Netherlands. While Trump got what he wanted at the annual meeting, tailor-made for him, his NATO allies will be relieved that he committed to the military alliance's fundamental principle of collective defence. Trump told a press conference that "we had a great victory here," adding that he hoped that the additional funds would be spent on military hardware made in the United States. However, he threatened to punish Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared it could meet its commitments to NATO while spending much less than the new target of five per cent of GDP. "I think it's terrible. You know, they (Spain) are doing very well ... And that economy could be blown right out of the water when something bad happens," Trump said, adding that Spain would get a tougher trade deal from the US than other European Union countries. In a five-point statement, NATO endorsed the higher defence spending goal - 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. The 32 allies' brief communique added: "We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence 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." Trump had long demanded in no uncertain terms that other countries step up their spending to reduce NATO's heavy reliance on the US. 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 military spending. "We can't say we are going to spend more and then, at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war," Macron said, calling it "an aberration". He said he had raised it several times with Trump. 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. The former Dutch prime minister said Trump deserved "all the praise" for getting NATO members to agree on raising defence spending. Asked by a reporter if he had deployed excessive flattery to keep Trump onside during the summit, Rutte said the two men were friends and judgment of his approach was a matter of taste. 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 two per cent of GDP, although it will be measured differently. Countries pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles. NATO leaders have backed a big increase in military spending that US President Donald Trump had demanded, and restated their commitment to defend each other from attack after a brief summit in the Netherlands. While Trump got what he wanted at the annual meeting, tailor-made for him, his NATO allies will be relieved that he committed to the military alliance's fundamental principle of collective defence. Trump told a press conference that "we had a great victory here," adding that he hoped that the additional funds would be spent on military hardware made in the United States. However, he threatened to punish Spain after Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez declared it could meet its commitments to NATO while spending much less than the new target of five per cent of GDP. "I think it's terrible. You know, they (Spain) are doing very well ... And that economy could be blown right out of the water when something bad happens," Trump said, adding that Spain would get a tougher trade deal from the US than other European Union countries. In a five-point statement, NATO endorsed the higher defence spending goal - 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. The 32 allies' brief communique added: "We reaffirm our ironclad commitment to collective defence 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." Trump had long demanded in no uncertain terms that other countries step up their spending to reduce NATO's heavy reliance on the US. 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 military spending. "We can't say we are going to spend more and then, at the heart of NATO, launch a trade war," Macron said, calling it "an aberration". He said he had raised it several times with Trump. 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. The former Dutch prime minister said Trump deserved "all the praise" for getting NATO members to agree on raising defence spending. Asked by a reporter if he had deployed excessive flattery to keep Trump onside during the summit, Rutte said the two men were friends and judgment of his approach was a matter of taste. 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 two per cent of GDP, although it will be measured differently. Countries pledged to spend 3.5 per cent of GDP on core defence - such as troops and weapons - and 1.5 per cent on broader defence-related measures such as cyber security, protecting pipelines and adapting roads and bridges to handle heavy military vehicles.
