Nato ‘wasn’t there’ over Iran, Trump says after tense meeting with Rutte – Europe live | Europe

Morning opening: Trump lashes out against Nato after Rutte says president is ‘clearly disappointed’ with allies

Jakub Krupa

The US president, Donald Trump, has once again lashed out against Nato after a tense and lengthy meeting with the alliance’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, who admitted Trump was “clearly disappointed” with allies over their refusal to get involved in Iran.

In another angry ALL CAPS post on social media overnight, Trump said:

“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN. REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!”

In reality, though, the only time Nato has ever triggered its collective defence clause in Article 5 was after 9/11 in the US, and the allies, in fact, were very much there when the US needed them.

It’s quite telling that despite repeatedly being told off for this very narrative by several European leaders, Trump keeps doubling down on this (factually incorrect) claim.

From Rutte’s comments to CNN last night, it’s clear that the meeting was very tense as he pointedly did not deny that Trump threatened to pull out of the alliance, as also suggested by the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt.

Ever a diplomat – although his critics often say he is positioning himself too close to Trump with his over-the-top praise for his impact on the alliance – Rutte said that the president was “clearly disappointed” and made that clear in a “very frank, very open” discussion between “two good friends”.

“He clearly told me what he thought of what happened over the last couple of weeks,” he said.

“But at the same time, I was also able to point him to the fact that the large majority of European nations has been helpful with basing, with logistics, with overflights, with making sure that they live up to the[ir] commitments,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported (£) overnight that “the White House is considering a plan to punish some members of the Nato alliance that President Trump thinks were unhelpful to the US and Israel during the Iran war.”

Rutte in effect declined to comment on this report, saying instead that “not all European nations lived up to those commitments, and I totally understand that he is disappointed” and repeatedly praising Trump’s broader leadership (going even as far as claiming that the world is safer now than before the Iran war.)

But he still insisted it was a “nuanced” picture and “a large majority of European countries, and that’s what we discussed today, have done what they promised” they would.

It remains to be seen if he actually convinced Trump at all. We will hear from Rutte again later today as he is due to deliver a speech in Washington late afternoon.

Elsewhere, I will bring you the latest updates from Hungary, just days before a key parliamentary vote on Sunday. As the US vice-president, JD Vance, left the country after his repeated endorsement of Viktor Orbán which is obviously very much not interfering with the election, not at all, the attention turns back to domestic campaign.

It’s Thursday, 9 April 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.