At the White House, Rutte thanked Trump for his leadership and highlighted increased defence spending by European Allies and Canada. “The Europeans and Canada are now on a trajectory to equalise their spending with the United States,” Rutte told reporters in the White House.
“It was a problem since Eisenhower – this President got this done.” Rutte also said that “Europeans and Canadians are spending almost 20% more” on defence in 2025 than they had the year before.
In the Oval Office, Rutte presented charts showing more than one trillion US dollars in cumulative additional core defence expenditure by European Allies and Canada since 2016. He also showed how European defence industry supported more than 83,000 jobs in the United States.
During the visit, Rutte discussed NATO’s support for Ukraine and efforts to bring Ukraine to a lasting peace. “Ukraine is doing so much better over the last five, six months than before. Also, thanks to all the help the US is providing.”
On Thursday, the Secretary General met members of Congress on Capitol Hill. He concluded his visit with a speech and discussion at the Atlantic Council, where he outlined his expectations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara.
“In Ankara we are going to show that we are delivering on the commitments we made in The Hague last year… transformation in defence investment, revolution in defence industry, affirmation of our enduring support to Ukraine.” The remarks reflected NATO’s focus on defence investment, industrial capacity and continued support for Ukraine ahead of the July summit.
The visit placed allied burden-sharing and Ukraine support at the centre of NATO’s preparations for Ankara. Rutte’s message in Washington was that Europe and Canada are increasing defence spending while the Alliance prepares to demonstrate progress on commitments made at last year’s summit in The Hague.
