OPD 26th June 2025, edited by Michelle Bisson
Proofer: See translator evaluation sheet.
A NATO Tailor-Made for Trump
The U.S. president has imposed his interests on the Hague and dodged the great European concern: the Russian threat
Donald Trump has achieved what he set out to do. His NATO counterparts have decided that they will reach 5% of their gross domestic product in defense spending within the next 10 years, just as the U.S. president demanded, being faithful to his understanding of international relations as commerce, in which each of his allies must religiously pay their corresponding security bill to guarantee their membership in the U.S.-led organization.
Fundamental to Trump’s getting his way were the persuasive skills of the alliance’s secretary general and former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, hyperbolic in his praise of the U.S. president’s achievements and complacent in [the face of] his demands. A complacency that was also reflected in the format of the meeting, custom-designed for the Republican leader: a 2 1/2 hour summit and a brief statement about the magic figure for defense spending and no reference to the necessity of solidarity with Ukraine. At most, he vaguely defended Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which did not erase the concern around the resident of the White House’s lack of commitment to the collective defense clause, which Trump has come to consider as having “numerous definitions.”
The fear that this summit was about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe — or at least the announcement of its gradual withdrawal to concentrate on the Pacific — has been more than a looming shadow. Trump arrived at the Hague puffed up by the show of military force against Iran, but blind to the proof that the two wars that he promised to put a stop to “within 24 hours” — in Ukraine and Gaza — are still dangerously active.
Once again, the Republican president managed to make the meeting revolve around his interests — the debate about the 5% — and left out a very pressing issue for allies, the White House’s attitude toward the Kremlin. While Europe considers Russia a big threat, Trump has yet to define his relationship with Vladmir Putin and, at times, is still sitting on the fence between Moscow and Kyiv, that is, between the invader and the invaded.
With Volodymyr Zelenskyy away from the session, the only dissenting voice was that of Pedro Sánchez, with his refusal to accept the arbitrary 5% figure. The Spanish government is not short of reasons not to support the general fetishism around this percentage, an expression of submission to the U.S. more than a budgetary responsibility for European defense, something that no one — not even Spain — can get away from. In fact, many countries know that they will not deliver on the promise of this figure, which Rutte himself embellished and put into context, announcing a 2029 review.
The well-founded dissidence of Sánchez, who failed to forge alliances before the summit, received a response that was to be expected at a meeting organized in Trump’s honor. According to the U.S. president, Spain will have to pay in tariffs what it does not want to pay in defense spending. Expressed in an improper, threatening tone among his NATO counterparts, the formula is like a summary of Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy. For him, there are no allies but only clients, and he cares very little about the collective solidarity asserted in the treaty and a lot about the crude power relationships between a superpower and the countries in its sphere of influence.
Donald Trump has achieved what he set out to do. His NATO counterparts have decided that they will reach 5% of their gross domestic product in defense spending within the next 10 years, just as the U.S. president demanded, being faithful to his understanding of international relations as commerce, in which each of his allies must religiously pay their corresponding security bill to guarantee their membership in the U.S.-led organization.
Fundamental to Trump’s getting his way were the persuasive skills of the alliance’s secretary general and former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, hyperbolic in his praise of the U.S. president’s achievements and complacent in [the face of] his demands. A complacency that was also reflected in the format of the meeting, custom-designed for the Republican leader: a 2 1/2 hour summit and a brief statement about the magic figure for defense spending and no reference to the necessity of solidarity with Ukraine. At most, he vaguely defended Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which did not erase the concern around the resident of the White House’s lack of commitment to the collective defense clause, which Trump has come to consider as having “numerous definitions.”
The fear that this summit was about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe — or at least the announcement of its gradual withdrawal to concentrate on the Pacific — has been more than a looming shadow. Trump arrived at the Hague puffed up by the show of military force against Iran, but blind to the proof that the two wars that he promised to put a stop to “within 24 hours” — in Ukraine and Gaza — are still dangerously active.
Once again, the Republican president managed to make the meeting revolve around his interests — the debate about the 5% — and left out a very pressing issue for allies, the White House’s attitude toward the Kremlin. While Europe considers Russia a big threat, Trump has yet to define his relationship with Vladmir Putin and, at times, is still sitting on the fence between Moscow and Kyiv, that is, between the invader and the invaded.
With Volodymyr Zelenskyy away from the session, the only dissenting voice was that of Pedro Sánchez, with his refusal to accept the arbitrary 5% figure. The Spanish government is not short of reasons not to support the general fetishism around this percentage, an expression of submission to the U.S. more than a budgetary responsibility for European defense, something that no one — not even Spain — can get away from. In fact, many countries know that they will not deliver on the promise of this figure, which Rutte himself embellished and put into context, announcing a 2029 review.
The well-founded dissidence of Sánchez, who failed to forge alliances before the summit, received a response that was to be expected at a meeting organized in Trump’s honor. According to the U.S. president, Spain will have to pay in tariffs what it does not want to pay in defense spending. Expressed in an improper, threatening tone among his NATO counterparts, the formula is like a summary of Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy. For him, there are no allies but only clients, and he cares very little about the collective solidarity asserted in the treaty and a lot about the crude power relationships between a superpower and the countries in its sphere of influence.
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