NATO's Efforts to Please Trump Amid Unpredictability

Donald Trump was in a bad mood when he left the White House Rose Garden for the NATO summit in The Netherlands. The leader of the free world spoke of Israel and Iran like they were two underperforming contractors on one of his New York construction sites. Perhaps his mood improved on Air Force One as it raced across the Atlantic — but the NATO summit in the Hague wouldn't be at the top of the president's list of things to cheer him up. He's openly criticised NATO for several years — once describing it as obsolete.

Former officials within his administration have spoken of Mr Trump's episodic displays of contempt for the alliance, with some reports claiming he's threatened to withdraw the US from the organisation.

NATO's secretary-general Mark Rutte seems acutely aware that the other 31 NATO nations are concerned about Mr Trump's unpredictability and the fact he could remove the US's membership at any moment. Many analysts believe this year's summit and Mr Rutte's recent comments are a deliberate attempt to flatter the president. Mr Rutte is urging member states to commit to bolstering their defence spending. Mr Rutte is using the conference as a vehicle to urge member nations to up defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 and so far, aside from one hold out, it looks like he'll be successful.

The White House will likely see Mr Rutte's constant lobbying and the fact he's discussed defence spending in almost every public engagement at the NATO event so far, as a big win. He's also been fawning over Mr Trump in recent days — in a private message which the president later posted on social media, Mr Rutte showered the leader with gushing praise. The event also only requires leaders to be in town for about 12 hours rather than the standard two days.

It's these attempts at flattery that may have led Mr Rutte to remark at the summit's opening forum on Tuesday that NATO members shouldn't worry about the US' commitment to the alliance. Despite NATO rolling out the red carpet for the Americans, Mr Trump is refusing to temper his running commentary on the alliance. The presence of Mr Trump has shifted the focus away from the purpose of the summit, which was to agree on a spending plan and discuss a way to restrict Russia's war effort. The shortened summit means there will be no meeting of NATO's Ukraine council.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is an invited guest at the summit, told Sky News UK on the morning of the conference's first day that the war in the Middle East was diverting attention away from his country. Mr Zelenskyy was given centre stage at the first major event of the summit, where he addressed a defence industry forum and spoke of the enormous challenge his military were facing. Mr Zelenskyy has been critical of NATO's increased defence spending timeline saying it's too long and has warned that Russia may attack a NATO member in the next five years. The Ukranian leader will meet with Mr Trump on the second day of the summit, in what is expected to be another eventful bilateral between the pair.