The meeting takes place since Donald Trump during the election campaign before the presidential election promised a quick end to the Ukraine war.
He also threatened during the election campaign NATO countries that do not meet their commitments regarding defense expenditures that they would not receive protection if they were attacked by Russia.
Took over in November
During his first round as the President of the USA, January 2017–January 2021, Trump pushed hard to get European countries in NATO to invest more in defense and described the alliance's cost distribution as unfair to the USA.
Rutte took over as NATO chief in early November after the Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg. The new chief said he wanted to have a meeting with Trump just days after the presidential election in the USA on November 5.
Since Trump's election victory, many European NATO countries are worried that the USA will cut its support to Ukraine in the war against the Russian invasion forces.
What we see more and more is that North Korea, Iran, China, and of course Russia are cooperating. They are cooperating against Ukraine, said Rutte at a meeting with European leaders in the Hungarian capital Budapest recently.
Discuss threats
He added that Russia is also paying for the North Korean support in the Ukraine war with technology deliveries to North Korea, which can threaten both the USA and Europe.
I look forward to sitting down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can handle these threats together, said Rutte.
Corrected: In an earlier version of the text, an incorrect time period for Trump's time in power was stated.
The incoming USA President Donald Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth to the post of Defense Minister, which has made many allies and defense experts raise their eyebrows.
The 44-year-old Fox News program host Hegseth has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no experience from higher officer positions within the defense forces or heavier government assignments.
Trump has also nominated the lawyer Matt Whitaker – who lacks foreign policy experience – to be the next USA NATO ambassador. According to a written statement from Trump, Whitaker will ensure that the USA's interests are promoted and defended and that the relationship with NATO allies is strengthened.
