Nato braces for difficult summit as Trump puts pressure on spending

Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the US president, Donald Trump, in Washington DC last month. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters View image in fullscreen Nato’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the US president, Donald Trump, in Washington DC last month. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters Nato braces for difficult summit as Trump puts pressure on spending Meeting of 32 member states comes at crucial time for alliance after tensions with US over Iran and Greenland Nato leaders will gather in Ankara on Tuesday after a turbulent six months, hoping – in the case of the other 31 members of the alliance – to mollify an unpredictable Donald Trump, as Washington continues to pressure its allies to increase defence spending. On Monday, Mark Rutte , Nato’s secretary general, called for the allies to present “clear, concrete and credible plans” to reach the organisation’s spending targets. “President Trump fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency,” he said. Nato members will unveil tens of billions in new arms contracts at an industry forum on the sidelines of the summit, as they attempt to show Trump that they are delivering on defence spending pledges. The two-day summit in the Turkish capital is expected to agree that allies will commit a largely symbolic €70bn (£60bn) in military aid to Ukraine this year and next, though this largely reflects commitments already made to a country that has no pathway to joining Nato. View image in fullscreen The venue for the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters It is not a deal to command Trump’s attention in the same way as last year’s headline agreement. Then, European members and Canada pledged to lift defence spending to 5% of their gross domestic product – 3.5% directly and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports to facilitate troop movements. “It’s not about keeping anyone happy, it is about delivering,” Rutte said during a visit to London last week. “And what Donald Trump expects, of course, is delivery.” When Rutte met Trump in the Oval Office last month, he brought along a couple of large cardboard panels, illustrating how much the non-US members of Nato had been spending since the US president started to complain about Europe free-riding on US defence outlay. Rutte highlighted a chart referring to “the Trump trillion” – the cumulative amount spent on defence by European members and Canada since the two-time president first took office in 2017. The elementary communication was intended to show, in Rutte’s words, that Trump “is successful in terms of getting the Europeans to spend more”. But with transatlantic relations already at a low, and with the US keen to ensure steps are being taken to honour the 3.5% commitment, a diplomatically harmonious summit cannot be guaranteed. View image in fullscreen Mark Rutte presents Nato spending charts to Donald Trump in the Oval Office in June. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/UPI/Shutterstock On F