Rutte Makes Fifth White House Visit to Keep U.S. in
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- Mark Rutte met Trump in the Oval Office on June 24, 2026 — his fifth visit since Trump returned to power — and gently pushed back: "your European allies have been there with you," while highlighting that 4,000 to 5,000 U.S. planes launched from European bases before the Iran ceasefire.
- Donald Trump has renewed threats to leave NATO, his anger fueled by European allies' refusal to help restart oil trade through the shuttered Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war and their denial of base access for strikes that the U.S. and Israel launched on Feb. 28.
- The Pentagon is conducting a six-month review of U.S. force levels in Europe, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth publicly berating allies at NATO headquarters in Brussels last week over the base-access dispute, a concrete precursor to a drawdown.
- Rutte appeared on Fox News on June 23 evening, repeatedly praising Trump as "the leader of the NATO alliance" — part of a pattern that includes calling the president "daddy" at last year's summit and sending fawning text messages in Trump's preferred ALL CAPS style that Trump then shared publicly.
- Leaders of five major European NATO members — Germany, France, the U.K., Italy, and Poland — met in Berlin on June 24 to coordinate ahead of the Ankara summit, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz saying the gathering should signal readiness to "do our part" to support an Iran peace deal.
- French President Emmanuel Macron described the moment as one of "reconvergence between the Europeans and the Americans" and expressed hope the Ankara summit would extend that reset — a notably optimistic note from a leader whose country Trump has previously targeted over defense spending.
Why it matters: Rutte's personal flattery is now the primary firewall keeping the 32-member alliance intact ahead of the Ankara summit, while the Pentagon simultaneously reduces its European footprint and Trump conditions continued U.S. membership on European support for the Iran war and base access — a linkage European capitals may struggle to accept without losing domestic political support.
