BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and the top of NATO have met for talks on world safety, the navy alliance mentioned Saturday.
In a short assertion, NATO mentioned Trump and its secretary common, Mark Rutte, met on Friday in Palm Seashore, Florida.
“They mentioned the vary of worldwide safety points dealing with the Alliance,” the assertion mentioned with out giving particulars.
It seemed to be Rutte’s first assembly with Trump since his Nov. 5 election. Rutte had beforehand congratulated Trump and mentioned “his management will once more be key to retaining our Alliance sturdy” and that he regarded ahead to working with him.
Trump has for years expressed skepticism about the Western alliance and complained in regards to the protection spending of a lot of its member nations, which he thought to be too low. He depicted NATO allies as leeches on the U.S. navy and brazenly questioned the worth of the alliance that has outlined American international coverage for many years. He threatened to not defend NATO members that fail to satisfy defense-spending objectives.
Rutte and his group additionally met Trump’s decide as nationwide safety adviser, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, and different members of the president-elect’s nationwide safety group, the NATO assertion mentioned.
Rutte took over on the helm of NATO in October.
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