Shifting Mindsets: President Trump Reaffirms the Relevance of NATO

By Raven Apigo May 18, 2017

President Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reach to shake hands during a news conference in the East Room of the White House last April. Photo by Evan Vucci/AP.

President Trump sharply reversed his 2016 campaign stance on NATO last month, stating, “I said [NATO] was obsolete; [NATO’s] no longer obsolete.”  This declaration has left Americans questioning the credibility of Trump’s agenda, but nonetheless implicates Trump’s intention to continue working closely with the members of NATO. After April’s meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, the President seemed pleased by their newfound commitment to “fight terrorism.”

“I complained about [NATO’s failure to spend enough on defense] a long time ago,” Trump said, “and they made a change, and now they do fight terrorism.”

President Trump’s reassertion of the United States’ support of NATO does not come without certain misgivings. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shared President Trump’s disapproval towards the United States’ “disproportionate share of NATO’s defense expenditures.”

With regards to US-Russia relations, Trump has responded unenthusiastically to Moscow ever since chemical weapons were reported to have been used against known Russian ally, Syria. It is not yet clear how President Trump will continue to balance the United States’ relations with both NATO and Russia in the coming months. ▪

See NPR’s article on Trump’s new position here: http://www.npr.org/2017/04/12/523483637/trump-hosts-nato-leader-amid-tension-with-russia