NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said after meeting US President Donald Trump on Wednesday that Trump is "clearly frustrated with many NATO allies, and I can understand his perspective," in remarks to CNN that laid bare the depth of tensions within the alliance.
Rutte said he had walked Trump through the ways in which alliance members support the United States, describing the conversation as "very frank, very open, but also a conversation between two good friends." He declined to say whether Trump had raised the possibility of a US withdrawal from NATO, or how seriously he personally assessed that prospect.
In the same CNN interview, Rutte stressed that NATO considers it an absolute necessity that Iran not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons or ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Trump had told Reuters last week that he was "absolutely" considering leaving the alliance, citing a lack of allied support during the conflict with Iran, though US law requires congressional approval for any such move. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also said recently that Washington "will need to reassess this relationship" once the war with Iran is over.
Following Wednesday's meeting with Rutte, Trump posted on Truth Social that "NATO was not there when we needed them, and won't be there if we need them again. Remember Greenland, that big, beautiful, mismanaged piece of ice."
The reference to Greenland, which Trump has previously sought to bring under US control, was widely read as a deliberate signal to alliance members rather than an incidental aside.
Source: CNA