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Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discuss global security issues

Pabio November 24, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed global security issues during their meeting Friday in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Nov. 23 (UPI) — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with the President-elect Donald Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, to discuss global security issues.

Rutte also met Friday with Rep. Mike Waltz, Republican of Florida, whom Trump named national security adviser, as well as members of Trump’s new national security team, NATO. announcement in a brief statement Saturday.

Trump and Rutte “discussed the range of global security challenges facing the alliance.” NATO » officials said.

Rutte is new to his post and became NATO secretary general in October.

On November 6, Rutte congratulated Trump on his victory in the presidential election against the vice president. Kamala Harris.

“His leadership will once again be key to keeping our alliance strong,” Rutte said in a statement. post on. “I look forward to working with him again to advance peace through strength.”

Meeting with Trump and others came after years of Trump criticized NATO member countries are too dependent on the US military and US funding of NATO.

Trump called on other NATO members to do more to fund the Western alliance and threatened not to defend NATO members who not to reach respective spending targets of 2% for defense.

Trump’s impending presidency has sparked concerns Ukraine and its efforts to defeat Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Trump told Russia and the Russian president Vladimir Putin can do “whatever they want” to countries that do not meet NATO’s criteria of 2% national defense spending.