NATO chief, Trump to meet at White House amid tensions

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

06/19/26 2:07 PM ET


NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is set to travel next week to Washington to meet with President Trump amid tensions over the U.S. cutting the number of troops and equipment it would provide to its European allies should they be attacked.

Rutte will meet Wednesday with Trump at the White House, according to a Friday announcement from the military alliance. He also will meet​ with senior Trump administration officials and members of Congress during the three-day trip, which starts Tuesday.

Rutte’s visit would come after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Thursday ripped into NATO allies while announcing a new six-month review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe, accusing the alliance of being a “paper tiger.”

Meeting with his counterparts at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, Hegseth said the review would ensure the alliance moves “fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading,” but he did not say whether it will result in a drawdown of U.S. deployments to the continent.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5932136-nato-trump-mark-rutte-meeting/

[erronis]

1. Wonder why trump didn't just stop off in Brussels since he was next door in Versailles.

And he was on such a winning track while already in Europe.... (NOT!)

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. So, 'Hicseth' was standing in NATO headquarters, and no one arrested him and hauled him before the World Court?

Okay.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The U.S. was never a full participant in the ICC

Clinton signed the Rome Statute but Shrub unsigned it and the treaty was never ratified by the Senate.

However, we may be rapidly approaching a state of being a minor power and signatories would no longer hesitate to carry out extraordinary renditions of our government officials to bring before the court.