Shortly before the NATO summit, the US President published a private message from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. In it, Rutte thanked Trump for his actions in Iran – and promised him further success.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised US President Donald Trump for his actions in the war between Israel and Iran. Rutte also thanked Trump for his pressure on the Europeans to spend more money on defense. This is evident from a message from Rutte to Trump, which the US president published as a screenshot on his platform Truth Social.

"Congratulations and thank you for your decisive action in Iran, which was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us all safer," it reads. Rutte continues:"You will achieve something no American president has managed in decades. Europe will pay BIG, as it should, and it will be your victory." NATO officials confirm that Rutte sent the message to Trump on Tuesday.

In the run-up to the summit in The Hague, NATO partners agreed to spend at least 3.5 percent of their respective gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and 1.5 percent on defense-related infrastructure by 2035. This corresponds to the five percent of GDP for defense demanded by Trump.

There were fears within NATO surrounding Trump's re-election in November that the Republican might turn his back on the transatlantic military alliance. During the election campaign, Trump threatened his European allies and Canada with withdrawal from the mutual assistance pact if they did not invest enough in their own defense.

Trump gives no clear answer on NATO's obligation to provide assistance

On Tuesday, he also did not directly answer the question of whether he would adhere to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that an attack on one member of the alliance is tantamount to an attack on all NATO partners.

"That depends on your definition," he told reporters aboard Air Force One on the flight to The Hague."There are numerous definitions of Article 5, you know that, right?" However, he wanted to be a friend. When asked later, Trump said he was committed to life and security. He didn't want to go into further detail on board an airplane, though.

Rutte said on Tuesday that the US commitment was accompanied by the expectation"that we finally address this huge stumbling block, this huge nuisance" that Europeans and Canadians are not spending enough on defense. At the same time, he emphasized that the real reason for defense spending was the threat from Russia.

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