Trump threatens to skip upcoming NATO summit

The German outlet Der Spiegel, citing European diplomatic sources, reported that Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. representative to NATO, warned that Trump may opt out of the upcoming NATO summit if other alliance members do not address burden-sharing responsibilities.

According to the report, Germany, in particular, has been under pressure to significantly increase its defense spending, with U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussing the issue with his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, last week.

The report comes as Whitaker told Newsmax on Thursday that European NATO members will take necessary steps to cover more defense costs. “The U.S. is not going to abandon Europe. But at the same time, we need to level things out,” he said.

He added, “Europeans understand the importance of paying more to defend their sovereignty. We need to ensure that our European allies, as President Trump always says, pay their fair share, and we will see significant developments ahead of the June summit.”

According to Whitaker, the U.S. has demanded that many NATO countries sign new support agreements and commit to higher spending before the June summit in The Hague.

Approximately 45 heads of state and government, including Donald Trump and many European leaders, as well as around 90 foreign and defense ministers, are expected to attend next month’s NATO summit. Dutch authorities say it will be the largest summit ever held in the country.

Following the end of Jens Stoltenberg’s tenure as NATO Secretary General, this will be the first NATO summit under the leadership of Mark Rutte, former Dutch Prime Minister.