NATO summit in the Hague: At the NATO summit, everything revolves around Trump

The heads of state and government of the 32 NATO countries meet for the summit in the Hague, but everything is only about one: US President Donald Trump enforced a fire break between Israel and Iran immediately before his departure to Europe. On Wednesday, he wants to decide the greatest upgrade with the Allies since the end of the Cold War.

By 2035, defense expenditure is to be increased to five percent of gross domestic product (GDP). The target brand is currently two percent. In the future, at least 3.5 percent of GDP will be due to classic military spending. In addition, investments in combating terrorism or infrastructure can be used in militarily usable infrastructure.

As a guest of the Dutch royal couple, the US President lives during the two-day summit in the Hague in Huis Ten Bosch Castle. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) represents Germany in the round. At the meeting he wants to show that Germany is willing to assume more responsibility in the alliance. “Germany is back on the European and the international stage,” he said.

“Your victory”: Trump’s stomach ruffles

Trump received a special welcome – and he published this personal message on the way out on the truth social portal. According to the screenshot, NATO general secretary Mark Rutte promised him a “further great success” in a personal text message.

Rutte literally wrote: “It was not easy, but we all made them sign the 5 percent commitment! Donald, you led us to a really important moment for America, Europe and the world.”

In the Trump style with capital letters, Rutte added: “Europe is going to pay in a big way, as they should, and it will be your win.” This can be translated as: “Europe will be asked to pay vigorously – as it should be – and it will be your victory.”

Supporting role for Selenskyj

The Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj, who takes part as a guest, only has one supporting role at the meeting: the alliance does not exhibit a new billion -dollar chick. According to the diplomats, unlike at the last summit in Washington, there is no question of an access to the diplomats – with Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden. Overall, the summit in the Haag marks a step back for the country, which has been defending itself against Russia’s attack since February 24, 2022.

The Ukrainian was still the focus last year: the Allies had promised support worth 40 billion euros for the year and in the end even provided around 50 billion euros.

Selenskyj and Trump see themselves at royal food

Also on a US request, Selenskyj was only invited to a festival in the castle of the Dutch King Willem-Alexander and not to a joint working session for the summit. In which form Trump and Selenskyj wanted to come together was open. “Yes, I will probably see him,” said the US President.

The king and his wife Máxima received the heads of state and government at the start of the meeting for a state banquet. Trump was sitting next to the king, Selenskyj next to the queen. Some of the guests were also accompanied by their partners, for example Brigitte Macron traveled.

Unlike at the G7 summit in Canada, Merz traveled without his wife Charlotte last week. As the “picture” reported, she decided at short notice not to travel – because of the tense situation in the Middle East. From the chancellor’s perspective and his wife, this made a concentrated work summit necessary. Government spokesman Stefan Kornelius told the newspaper that Charlotte Merz therefore decided that it was better not to participate in the entertainment program for the partners. Trump was also not accompanied by his wife Melania.

Rutte tries to calm Selenskyj

Rutte tried to take care of Selenskyj, the war got out of view of the alliance. Rutte assured that Washington’s decisions would have existed.

Trump stood against a renewed mention of an accession. The latter still hopes to end the Russian war of attack by concessions to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. One of them is that Ukraine should give up a NATO accession for the ceasefire for the time being.

Chancellor at the side of Ukraine: tightening sanctions

In a government declaration in the Bundestag, Chancellor Merz criticized the summit that President Putin also showed no readiness for peace. He again campaigned for tightening the sanctions against Russia. He showed himself “confident” that the US government also goes this way. “Putin only understands the language of strength,” he emphasized.

Merz condemned the youngest Russian air strikes. “A real, permanent peace requires peace of peace from all sides,” he said in a government declaration in front of the summit. “With its new wave of attacks on the Ukrainian civilian population, Russia, on the other hand, has to understand in a barbaric way that it does not currently have this willingness to peace.”