Secretary General meets President Trump in Washington: “Europe is stepping up”

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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte met with US President Donald Trump in Washington D.C. on Wednesday (25 June 2026) to prepare for the Ankara Summit in July.

At the White House the Secretary General thanked President Trump for his leadership: “The Europeans and Canada are now on a trajectory to equalise their spending with the United States”, Mr Rutte told reporters in the White House. “It was a problem since Eisenhower – this President got this done.”

The Secretary General also highlighted how Canada and European Allies are stepping up: “Europeans and Canadians are spending almost 20% more” in defence in 2025 than they had the year before. In the Oval Office, Mr Rutte presented charts showing over one trillion USD in cumulative extra core defence expenditure by European Allies and Canada since 2016. He also showed how European defence industry supported over 83.000 jobs in the US.

During his visit Mr Rutte discussed NATO’s support to Ukraine and bringing 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 with 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.”