BRUSSELS: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the Trump administration’s new envoy to NATO are seeking to reassure wary members of the US commitment to the alliance.
Rubio on Thursday decried “hysteria and hyperbole” in the media about US President Donald Trump’s intentions, despite persistent signals from Washington that NATO as it has existed for 75 years may no longer be relevant.
Rubio and newly confirmed US ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker are in Brussels for a meeting of alliance foreign ministers at which many are hoping Rubio will shed light on US security plans in Europe.
“The United States is as active in NATO as it has ever been,” Rubio told reporters as he greeted NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte before the meeting began. “And some of this hysteria and hyperbole that I see in the global media and some domestic media in the United States about NATO is unwarranted.”
“President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO,” Rubio said. “We’re going to remain in NATO.”
“We want NATO to be stronger, we want NATO to be more visible and the only way NATO can get stronger, more visible is if our partners, the nation states that comprise this important alliance, have more capability,” he said.
Whitaker said in a statement that “under President Trump’s leadership, NATO will be stronger and more effective than ever before, and I believe that a robust NATO can continue to serve as a bedrock of peace and prosperity.” But he added: “NATO’s vitality rests on every ally doing their fair share.”
Concerns about US commitment to allies
Despite those words, European allies and Canada are deeply concerned by Trump’s readiness to draw closer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who sees NATO as a threat as the US tries to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, as well as his rhetorical attacks and insults against allies like Canada and Denmark.
Rubio and Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen met on the sidelines of the meeting. They didn’t respond to a shouted question about Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark which Trump has his eye on, but they smiled and shook hands in front of US and Danish flags.
Trump’s imposition of new global tariffs, which will affect allies, have also added to the uncertainty and unease.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned that NATO’s unity is “being tested by the decisions taken and announced yesterday (Wednesday) by President Trump.”
Asked about concerns among European allies about a possible US troop drawdown and the importance of getting clear messages from the Trump administration, Rutte said: “These issues are not new. There are no plans for them to all of a sudden draw down their presence here in Europe.”
Indeed, the Trump administration hasn’t made its NATO allies aware any plans that it might have. But several European countries are convinced that US troops and equipment will be withdrawn, and they want to find out from Rubio how many and when so they can fill any security gaps.
“We need to preempt a rapid retreat, but we’ve had nothing precise from the US yet,” a senior NATO diplomat said before the meeting, briefing reporters on his country’s expectations on condition that he not be named.
In Washington, the chairman of the US Senate Armed Services Committee criticized “mid-level” leadership at the Pentagon for what he branded as a misguided plan to “reduce drastically” the number of US troops based in Europe. The US Defense Department hasn’t made public any such proposal.
“They’ve been working to pursue a US retreat from Europe and they’ve often been doing so without coordinating with the secretary of defense,” US Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, said at a hearing with US European Command and US Africa Command military leadership.
It wasn’t immediately clear what “mid-level bureaucrats” Wicker was talking about.
Rutte’s dilemma
NATO’s secretary-general is in a bind. European allies and Canada have tasked him with keeping the United States firmly in NATO. Around 100,000 US troops are stationed in Europe along with the Navy’s 6th Fleet and nuclear warheads. US firepower ensures that NATO’s ability to deter Russia is credible.
This means he can’t openly criticize Trump, who is commander in chief of the United States, NATO’s biggest and best-equipped armed forces.
What is clear is that US allies must ramp up defense spending even more than they already have since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago, so that they can defend Europe with less American help and keep Ukraine’s armed forces in the fight.
“The US expects European allies to take more responsibility for their own security,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said, which means that “European NATO countries rapidly have to strengthen the European pillar of NATO and have to increase their defense spending.”
Since US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned last month that American security priorities lie elsewhere — in Asia and on the United States’ own borders — the Europeans have waited to learn how big a military drawdown in Europe could be and how fast it may happen.
In Europe and Canada, governments are working on “burden shifting” plans to take over more of the load, while trying to ensure that no security vacuum is created if US troops and equipment are withdrawn from the continent.
