On NATO, Trump’s Words Should Match U.S. Actions
The administration has done great things to support the trans-Atlantic alliance. If only the president’s rhetoric reflected that.
Working as a team.
Photographer: Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was a courteous guest during a joint session of Congress Wednesday, playing down current frictions within the alliance and praising President Donald Trump’s effort to get Europe to pay more for its own defense.
This was more than just astute diplomacy: It was recognition that, despite the impression given by Trump’s many disparaging remarks about NATO, the U.S. has remained essentially supportive of trans-Atlantic security. Since Trump took office, spending on the European Deterrence Initiative, the primary mechanism to counter Russian belligerence, has nearly doubled to more than $6 billion a year. More than 8,000 U.S. troops are rotating in and out of NATO bases in Eastern Europe, and the administration is in talks with Poland about building a permanent base there. The U.S. is pushing to make the former Yugoslav republic now called North Macedonia NATO’s 30th member.