Stakes are high as NATO partners gather in Brussels

Trump wants a 2% solution; allies push for common defense

After months of tension, President Trump and leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization come face-to-face Thursday for meetings likely to revolve around two issues: Washington’s commitment to the military alliance that has defined western political unity for nearly seven decades, and military contributions from the rest of its members.

While Trump has retracted his often-repeated campaign claim that NATO is “obsolete” in the modern age of terrorism, the stillnew president who views himself as dealmaker-in-chief is expected to demand that NATO countries make good on pledges to increase its defense spending to 2% of gross domestic product, a heavy lift for some European countries.

Yet NATO leaders making progress toward that 2% goal say they want something from Trump in turn: a public recommitment to Article 5 of the NATO treaty, the common-defense pledge in which members agree that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all.

In a remarks before his first foreign trip, Trump complained that the U.S. is bearing too much of the load. “Our partners must show that they’re partners, they must show that they’re friends, and they must contribute financially to the tremendous cost, the money that we’re spending,” he said in a weekend address.

Trump arrives in Brussels after visiting Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and Rome — and just days after a suicide bomber attacked concert-goers in Manchester, England, meaning terrorism probably will play an even bigger-than-expected role in talks among members of the military alliance. The question of Russia also looms over the visit as an array of governments accuse Moscow of trying to destabilize their democracies — while Trump is open about seeking warmer ties and his associates are under investigation for possible collusion with Russia during the American presidential campaign.

In his four months in office, Trump has already exhibited a tendency to shift and even change his opinions as he meets with world leaders. NATO has been no exception.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had what he called “an excellent and very productive meeting ” with Trump at the White House in April, and he told Bloomberg TV the president repeatedly stated to him “that he’s strongly committed to NATO. ... And that’s also been the message from his security team.”

It was at that meeting that Trump expressed newfound confidence in NATO, telling reporters that “I said it was obsolete; it’s no longer obsolete.”

Still, Trump’s trip to Belgium is fraught with anxiety in Europe.

Thomas Wright, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at The Brookings Institution, said that “NATO is really worried about this trip” and as a result shortened the president’s visit to a few hours that include dinner and a building dedication.

“They want to keep it less on the long statements and more on activities,” he said, “which I guess is not a bad idea.”

While Trump has walked back his claim that NATO is “obsolete,” his trip to Belgium is fraught with anxiety in Europe.