Photos from The Hague as NATO leaders including Donald Trump gather for historic summit
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Leaders arrive at Hague summit as Nato chief Rutte flatters Trump
Leaders arrive at Hague summit as Nato chief Rutte flatters Trump. All 32 leaders are set to commit to spending 5% of national output on defence and related infrastructure. It is US President Donald Trump’s first Nato summit since 2019. Ahead of his arrival, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte sent him a pre-summit message, lavishing praise on his handling of Western alliance and the conflict in Iran. “You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening,” Rutte wrote, in a message posted by Trump on social media. He also congratulated Trump on his “decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer.” Asked later if it was embarrassing that his private message had been shared, Rutte said there was “absolutely no problem – there was nothing in it that had to stay secret”.Twenty people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday, and the German chancellor said every attempt to bring Russia to the negotiating table had so far been unsuccessful.
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EPA Trump raises a glass at the Nato leaders’ dinner, with Rutte smiling in the background
Nato leaders have arrived in The Hague for a summit hailed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as historic and aimed at securing peace in Europe for future generations. It is US President Donald Trump’s first Nato summit since 2019 and all 32 leaders are set to commit to spending 5% of national output on defence and related infrastructure. Ahead of his arrival, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte sent him a pre-summit message, lavishing praise on his handling of Western alliance and the conflict in Iran. “You are flying into another big success in The Hague this evening. It was not easy but we’ve got them all signed on to five percent,” Rutte wrote, in a message posted by Trump on social media.
He also congratulated Trump on his “decisive action in Iran, that was truly extraordinary and something no one else dared to do. It makes us safer.” Asked later if it was embarrassing that his private message had been shared, Rutte told the BBC there was “absolutely no problem – there was nothing in it that had to stay secret”. Western leaders have all had to navigate their relationships with Trump, known for his sometimes unpredictable handling of diplomacy. The two-day Nato summit has already been scaled back, apparently to accommodate his schedule. Nato leaders gathered for a group photograph before joining King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands for dinner.
The Nato secretary general earlier told his European colleagues to stop worrying about the US commitment to the Western alliance and focus on investing in defence and supporting Ukraine. He insisted the US president and senior leadership had a “total commitment” to Nato, that came with an expectation of matching American military spending. Rutte said Europe and Canada had already committed to more than $35bn (£26bn) in military support for Ukraine this year.
Nato chief not embarrassed by message to Trump being made public
Twenty people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday, and the German chancellor said every attempt to bring Russia to the negotiating table had so far been unsuccessful. Missile attacks on the eastern city of Dnipro and the nearby town of Samar killed 17 people and wounded another 160, according to Ukrainian officials. Eighteen children were wounded in the attack on Dnipro, which damaged a kindergarten, schools and a passenger train, they said. An earlier missile strike on Sumy in the north-east killed three people, including a child. Zelensky, who has arrived in The Hague, is due to meet Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Nato summit. The Ukrainian leader had a notoriously difficult meeting with the US president at the White House in February, before a more constructive exchange at Pope Francis’s funeral at the Vatican in April.
Omar Havana/Getty Images Zelensky (L) was greeted by the Nato secretary general on arrival at The Hague
Nato member states are expected to approve a major new investment plan which will raise the benchmark for defence investment to 5% of GDP. Many of the allies are far below the commitment to spend 3.5% of GDP on defence by 2035, but the German government backed a budget deal on Tuesday to hit that target by 2029. Some €62.4bn (£53bn) will be spent on defence in 2025, rising to €152.8bn in 2029, partly financed by debt and special funds. “We’re not doing that as a favour to the US and its president,” the German chancellor told parliament in Berlin on Tuesday. “We’re doing this out of our own view and conviction, because Russia is actively and aggressively endangering the security and freedom of the entire-Euro-Atlantic area.”
During the summit, Merz is due to meet UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and France’s President Emmanuel Macron. Mark Rutte has spent much of the nine months since becoming Nato Secretary General working to get allies to commit to the 5% target. The figure is more than double Nato members’ current 2% guideline and seemed unthinkable – and unrealistic – to most when President Trump first set it in January. The two-day Nato summit was to begin with a dinner hosted by the Dutch king, with a working session of under three hours on Wednesday and an expected five-paragraph statement at the end. The nine Nato countries that missed their defence spending targets
Could this be the most significant Nato summit since the Cold War? The wording of the commitment in the statement is key. While 3.5% of of the target spending will cover core defence requirements, 1.5% will be spent on “defence-related expenditure” – a suitably broad expression that encompasses investments in anything from cybersecurity to infrastructure. Reaching the 3.5% core defence spending target will still require a significant adjustment for the majority of Nato countries. Out of 32 allies, 27 spend under 3%, with eight hovering well below the 2% threshold set by the alliance in 2014. On Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged that the UK would meet the 5% target by 2035. He said the UK had to “navigate this era of radical uncertainty with agility, speed and a clear-eyed sense of the national interest”. The UK government said it expected to spend 2.6% of GDP on core defence within two years, alongside 1.5% on defence-related areas.
EPA Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez has argued his country should be exempt from the 5% spending target
NATO chief praises Trump for making Europe ‘pay in a BIG way’ on defense ahead of historic summit
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised President Donald Trump for making Europe “pay in a BIG way” The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security. Still, Spain has said it cannot, and that the target is “unreasonable” Trump has said the U.S. should not have to meet the target, which is due by 2035. The spotlight has shifted to Trump’s decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran”s nuclear ambitions.“If we would not be able to deal with … the Middle East, and Ukraine at the same time, we should not be in the business of politics and military at all,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told Ukraine’s president at a meeting in The Hague. “If you can only deal with one issue at a time, that will be that. Then let other people take over,’ he said.
READ MORE: Dutch authorities investigate possible arson against rail network as NATO summit opens
The U.S. president, while flying aboard Air Force One en route to The Hague, published a screenshot of a private message from Rutte saying: “Donald, you have driven us to a really, really important moment for America and Europe and the world. You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done.”
“Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win,” Rutte wrote. NATO confirmed that he sent the message.
The allies are likely to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance’s plans for defending against outside attack. Still, Spain has said it cannot, and that the target is “unreasonable.” Trump has said the U.S. should not have to.
Slovakia said that it reserves the right to decide how to reach the target by NATO’s new 2035 deadline.
“There’s a problem with Spain. Spain is not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on his way to the two-day meeting.
NATO’s first summit with Trump, in 2018, unraveled due to a dispute over defense spending.
Ahead of the meeting, Britain, France and Germany committed to the 5% goal. Host country the Netherlands is also onboard. Nations closer to the borders of Ukraine, Russia and its ally Belarus had previously pledged to do so.
Trump’s first appearance at NATO since returning to the White House was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured the historic military spending pledge from others in the security alliance — effectively bending it to its will.
But the spotlight has shifted to Trump’s decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, as well as the president’s sudden announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire.”
Ukraine has also suffered as a result of that conflict. It has created a need for weapons and ammunition that Kyiv desperately wants, and shifted the world’s attention away. Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year.
Still, Rutte insisted NATO could manage more than one conflict at a time.
“If we would not be able to deal with … the Middle East, which is very big and commanding all the headlines, and Ukraine at the same time, we should not be in the business of politics and military at all,” he said. “If you can only deal with one issue at a time, that will be that. Then let other people take over.”
READ MORE: Trump, NATO to gather for summit amid rising global tensions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for a series of meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.
It’s a big change since the summit in Washington last year, when the military alliance’s weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country “on its irreversible path” to NATO membership.
Zelenskyy’s first official engagement was with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof at his official residence just across the road from the summit venue.
But in a telling sign of Ukraine’s status at the summit, neither leader mentioned NATO. Ukraine’s bid to join the alliance has been put in deep freeze by Trump.
“Let me be very clear, Ukraine is part of the family that we call the Euro-Atlantic family,” Schoof told Zelenskyy, who in turn said he sees his country’s future in peace “and of course, a part of a big family of EU family.”
Schoof used the meeting to announce a new package of Dutch support to Kyiv including 100 radar systems to detect drones and a move to produce drones for Ukraine in the Netherlands, using Kyiv’s specifications.
The U.S. has made no new public pledges of support to Ukraine since Trump took office six months ago.
Meeting later with Rutte and top EU officials, Zelenskyy appealed for European investment in Ukraine’s defense industry, which can produce weapons and ammunition more quickly and cheaply than elsewhere in Europe.
“No doubt, we must stop (Russian President Vladimir) Putin now and in Ukraine. But we have to understand that his objectives reach beyond Ukraine. European countries need to increase defense spending,” he said. He said that NATO’s new target of 5% of GDP “is the right level.”
He thanked them for their unity in supporting Ukraine, saying: “I think this is the most important thing.”
World leaders gather for historic NATO summit with unity on the line
Two-day NATO summit could unite the world’s biggest security organization around a new defense spending pledge. The allies are expected to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security. Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for a series of meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they backed U.S. peace efforts that should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty.
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — World leaders were gathering in the Netherlands on Tuesday for the start of a historic two-day NATO summit that could unite the world’s biggest security organization around a new defense spending pledge or widen divisions among the 32 allies.
The allies are expected to endorse a goal of spending 5% of their gross domestic product on their security, to be able to fulfil the alliance’s plans for defending against outside attack.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s first appearance at NATO since returning to the White House was supposed to center on how the U.S. secured the historic military spending pledge from others in the security alliance — effectively bending it to its will.
But in the spotlight instead now is Trump’s decision to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran that the administration says eroded Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, as well as the president’s sudden announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire.”
Past NATO summits have focused almost entirely on the war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte insisted that it remains a vital topic.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in The Hague for a series of meetings, despite his absence from a leaders’ meeting aiming to seal the agreement to boost military spending.
It’s a big change since the summit in Washington last year, when the military alliance’s weighty communique included a vow to supply long-term security assistance to Ukraine, and a commitment to back the country “on its irreversible path” to NATO membership.
In a joint tribune on the eve of this year’s summit, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said they backed U.S. peace efforts that should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and European security.
“For as long as the current trajectory lasts, Russia will find in France and Germany an unshakeable determination. What is at stake will determine European stability for the decades to come,” they wrote in the Financial Times newspaper.
“We will ensure that Ukraine emerges from this war prosperous, robust and secure, and will never live again under the fear of Russian aggression,” the two leaders wrote.
Ahead of the official program, Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof. Later in the day, Zelenskyy will address the Dutch parliament.
Trump says whether he’ll commit to NATO mutual defense guarantee ‘depends on your definition’
Trump says whether he’ll commit to NATO mutual defense guarantee ‘depends on your definition’ “I’m committed to being their friends,” the U.S. president says of NATO allies. The comments could revive long-standing concern from European allies about his commitment to the military alliance. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the alliance, which was created as a bulwark against threats from the former Soviet Union.”Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should,” the secretary-general says of Trump. “You will achieve something that no American president in decades could get done,” Rutte writes in a private message to the world’s leaders. NATO leaders will tout a pledge to hike military spending at The Hague, which requires other NATO countries to invest in their defense at an unprecedented scale at the same time. as hundreds of people showed up in The Hague on Sunday to denounce the conflict in Syria in a protest that was initially focused on defense spending.. The sharp U-turn in hostilities followed hours later by Trump’s declaration that both parties violated the agreement.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday injected some uncertainty over whether the U.S. would abide by the mutual defense guarantees outlined in the NATO treaty as he headed to its summit – comments that could revive long-standing concern from European allies about his commitment to the military alliance.
“Depends on your definition,” Trump told reporters as he was headed to The Hague, where this year’s summit is being held. “There’s numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right? But I’m committed to being their friends.” Asked later aboard Air Force One to clarify, Trump said he is “committed to saving lives” and “committed to life and safety” but did not expand further, saying he didn’t want to elaborate while flying on an airplane.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, later pressed by reporters, said that he has no doubt about the U.S. commitment to NATO and its Article 5 guarantee, which says an armed attack on one member is an attack on all. But Trump’s remarks previewed what could be another volatile appearance by the Republican president at a summit celebrating an alliance he has often derided.
And it comes amid a backdrop of tumult in the Middle East, after Trump moved to strike three nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran, as well as the president’s sudden announcement that Israel and Iran had reached a “complete and total ceasefire.” The sharp U-turn in hostilities – followed hours later by Trump’s declaration that both parties violated the agreement – had already started to shape the summit, with Rutte publicly dancing around the issue even as hundreds of people showed up in The Hague on Sunday to denounce the conflict in a protest that was initially focused on defense spending.
Still, other NATO countries have become accustomed to the unpredictable when it comes to Trump, who has made no secret of his disdain for the alliance, which was created as a bulwark against threats from the former Soviet Union.
Trump’s debut on the NATO stage at the 2017 summit was perhaps most remembered by his shove of Dusko Markovic, the prime minister of Montenegro, as the U.S. president jostled toward the front of the pack of world leaders during a NATO headquarters tour.
And he began the 2018 summit by questioning the value of the decades-old military alliance and accusing its members of not contributing enough money for their defense – themes he has echoed since. That year in Brussels, Trump floated a 4% target of defense spending as a percentage of a country’s gross domestic product, a figure that seemed unthinkably high at the time.
“NATO was broke, and I said, ‘You’re going to have to pay,'” Trump said Tuesday, recounting his initial encounters with the alliance. “And we did a whole thing, and now they’re paying a lot. Then I said, ‘You’re going to have to lift it to 4% or 5%, and 5% is better.'”
That 5% figure is “good,” Trump said, adding: “It gives them much more power.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will also attend the NATO summit this week. She said if Trump does anything to sow division within the alliance, it would benefit Xi Jinping of China, which NATO countries have accused of enabling Russia as it invades Ukraine.
“That does not help America, does not help our national security,” Shaheen said in an interview. “What it does is hand a victory to our adversaries, and for an administration that claims to be so concerned about the threat from (China), to behave in that way is hard to understand.”
Trump heavily telegraphed his attitude toward global alliances during his presidential campaigns.
As a candidate in 2016, Trump suggested that he as president would not necessarily heed the alliance’s mutual defense guarantees outlined in Article 5 of the NATO treaty. And during a campaign rally in 2024, Trump recounted a conversation with another NATO leader during which Trump said he would “encourage” Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to members who weren’t meeting the alliance’s military spending targets.
In The Hague, Trump will tout the pledge to hike military spending, which requires other NATO countries to invest in their defense at an unprecedented scale. In a private message from Rutte that Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Tuesday, the secretary-general praised him for driving NATO “to a really, really important moment for America and Europe, and the world.”
“You will achieve something NO American president in decades could get done,” Rutte wrote in the message that Trump published, which NATO confirmed he sent. “Europe is going to pay in a BIG way, as they should, and it will be your win.” Rutte later told reporters that he had no issue with his message being made public “because there’s nothing in it which had to stay secret.”
Last week, the president went as far as to argue that the U.S. should not have to abide by the 5% spending pledge he wants imposed on the other NATO countries, although he appeared to soften those comments on Tuesday.
That 5% is effectively divided into two parts. The first, 3.5%, is meant to be made up of traditional military spending such as tanks, warplanes and air defense. What can comprise the remaining 1.5% is a bit fuzzier, but it can include things like roads and bridges that troops could use to travel. According to NATO, the U.S. was spending about 3.4% of its gross domestic product on defense as of 2024.
Most NATO countries – with Spain as the key holdout – are preparing to endorse the pledge, motivated not just by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine to bolster their own defenses but also perhaps appease the United States and its tempestuous leader.
“He hasn’t said this in a while, but there are still a lot of worries in Europe that maybe the United States will pull out of NATO, maybe the United States won’t honor Article 5,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a former Pentagon official. “I think there is a real fear among Europeans that we need to deliver for Trump in order to keep the United States engaged in NATO.”
Kroenig added: “Like it or not, I do think Trump’s tougher style does get more results.”
European allies have taken note of potential signs of a broader U.S. retreat. France and other NATO countries have been concerned that the Trump administration is considering reducing troop levels in Europe and shifting them over to the Indo-Pacific, which Cabinet officials have signaled is a higher priority.
Still, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker have underscored the U.S.’ commitment and have said the Trump administration is only seeking a stronger alliance.
The White House has not said which world leaders Trump will meet with at the World Forum in The Hague. Trump said he’ll “probably” see Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump plans to stay Tuesday night at Huis Ten Bosch palace, home to Dutch King Willem-Alexander.
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Kim reported from Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands. Associated Press writer Lorne Cook and Associated Press producer Sylvain Plazy in The Hague, Netherlands, and Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.