NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte was in Washington, D.C., yesterday. He met with President Trump as relations within the alliance are beginning to fray. Some nations are unwilling to allow their airspace to be used for any activity related to Operation Epic Fury. They’re also not eager to deploy naval forces to stabilize the Persian Gulf, especially the Strait of Hormuz. If anyone should be involved in that effort, it’s NATO members—they are the ones who need that waterway open.
Trump is considering closing bases in countries that have abandoned us during Epic Fury. Rutte described the discussions as honest, though they were between friends. On CNN, he probably angered liberals by saying the world is safer, thanks to Trump.
He also agreed with the president’s criticism of NATO countries. Host Jake Tapper played a clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quoting the president about NATO: “They were tested, and they failed.”
Rutte agreed that some of them had failed.