NATO head and Trump meet in Florida for talks on global security
BRUSSELS — President-elect Donald Trump and the head of NATO have met for talks on global security, the military alliance said Saturday.
In a brief statement, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization said Trump and its secretary general, Mark Rutte, met Friday in Palm Beach, Fla.
“They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance,” the statement said, without giving details.
It appeared to be Rutte’s first meeting with Trump since the Nov. 5 election. Rutte had previously congratulated Trump and said that “his leadership will again be key to keeping our Alliance strong” and that he looked forward to working with him.
Trump has for years expressed skepticism about NATO and complained that some of its member nations didn’t spend enough on defense. He depicted them as leeches on the U.S. military and questioned the value of the alliance that has defined U.S. foreign policy for decades. He threatened not to defend NATO members that fail to meet defense spending goals.
Rutte and his team also met Trump’s pick as national security advisor, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), and other members of the president-elect’s national security team, the NATO statement said.
Rutte took over as head of NATO in October.
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