Washington: US President Donald Trump discussed the possibility of the United States stepping back from NATO during a White House meeting with Secretary General Mark Rutte, amid widened differences over the alliance’s response to the Iran conflict.
The White House said Trump has been considering withdrawing from NATO, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoting the President as saying the alliance had fallen short. “They were tested and they failed,” she told reporters, adding that leaving NATO remains under discussion.
The meeting came amid Trump’s growing frustration with European allies for not fully backing US military actions against Iran. Rutte acknowledged tensions but said most allies had supported Washington. He described the talks as “very frank, very open,” and noted that European countries had provided “basing, logistics, overflights” and other support during the conflict, while conceding that some allies had not met expectations. The talks also covered broader coordination efforts, including securing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic moves to end the Russia-Ukraine war. In a separate engagement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Rutte to discuss increasing coordination and burden-sharing with NATO allies, according to the State Department.
Republican congressional leaders emphasised the alliance’s continued importance, saying recent US military operations had benefited significantly from the support of most NATO allies.
Meanwhile, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi warned that any unilateral move to withdraw the United States from NATO without congressional approval would be illegal and harmful to national security. In a letter sent after Trump’s meeting with Rutte, Krishnamoorthi expressed “deep concern” over the President’s remarks about leaving the alliance. He wrote that any unilateral US exit would be “strategically reckless and blatantly illegal under current law.”
He cited a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 that bars any president from suspending, terminating, denouncing, or withdrawing from NATO without the consent of two-thirds of the Senate or an act of Congress.
Krishnamoorthi said the measure reflects Congress’s constitutional role in treaty matters and warned that even raising doubts about US commitment could undermine credibility, embolden adversaries such as Russia and China, and weaken collective deterrence during a period of global instability. (IANS)
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