NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is heading to Washington next week to meet President Trump, and it’s no mystery why. Trump has been hammering deadbeat allies to finally pay their fair share instead of freeloading off American taxpayers for decades.
Rutte already delivered the wake-up call in a blunt January speech to the European Parliament. He didn’t mince words: “If anyone thinks here that the European Union or Europe can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming! You can’t! We can’t!”
He slammed the fantasy of Europe going it alone: “If you really want to go it alone… forget that you can ever get there with 5%. It will be 10%! You have to build up your own nuclear capability. That costs billions and billions of euros. You will lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!”
Trump’s tough stance is working. Europe spent years talking big while shortchanging defense and expecting Uncle Sam to foot the bill and provide the muscle. No more. Allies need to step up now or face the reality Rutte just spelled out: without America, they’re toast.
It’s time to end the one-way street. America first means demanding real burden-sharing, not endless subsidies for nations that mock us while hiding under our protection. Trump is making NATO fair again, whether the Europeans like it or not.