NATO's Rutte aims to soothe Trump on White House visit ahead of July summit
Key takeaways
- By: FRANCE 24 US President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the Davos Forum in Switzerland, on January 21, 2026.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week berated "free-riding" allies at a NATO meeting and announced a six-month review of US troop deployments in Europe that could result in some reductions of American forces.
- Read moreUS will review its military presence in Europe, Hegseth tells NATO
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is set to hold talks with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, aiming to mollify the volatile US leader two weeks before the annual summit of the military alliance and as the Pentagon reviews the size of the US military footprint in Europe.
By: FRANCE 24 US President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on the sidelines of the Davos Forum in Switzerland, on January 21, 2026. © Evan Vucci, AP file photo NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte meets with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday, seeking to ease tensions over the Iran war and US threats to draw down troops in Europe ahead of a pivotal NATO leaders summit in July in Ankara.
Trump, a longtime NATO critic who has called the alliance a "paper tiger," has been angered by its reluctance to support the US in the Middle East conflict or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after a US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28 disrupted the major oil shipping route.