NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday, 25 June publicly defended President Donald Trump's military action against Iran, asserting that US strikes had prevented Tehran from acquiring nuclear capability and that Trump remained fully committed to the transatlantic alliance. The remarks came during a joint appearance at the White House, ahead of next month's NATO summit in Ankara.

Rutte's Defence of Trump's Iran Policy

Rutte offered an unambiguous endorsement of the US president's handling of the Iran conflict, describing the action as a matter of global security rather than regional politics. 'I really want to make clear how important it is, what you are doing on Iran,' Rutte said, standing alongside Trump.

He characterised Iran as 'a country which is exporting chaos' and 'exporting terrorism', warning that it 'was very near to getting their hands on the nuclear capability.' Rutte argued that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose 'a danger to the whole world, particularly the region, Israel, and to Europe, but also the rest of the world.'

In notably strong language, Rutte described Trump as 'the leader of the free world taking responsibility beyond the shores of the United States, for the rest of the world' — framing the military campaign as a contribution to collective security rather than unilateral action.

Trump's Criticism of European Allies

Trump, for his part, renewed criticism of several European allies, saying they had failed to offer support during the conflict. 'We were let down,' Trump said. 'We didn't need help on this at all. We demolished them in literally the first week, but it would have been nice if they would have said, "We'd like to help."'

Rutte acknowledged there had been 'a reason for disappointment' but characterised those instances as 'isolated cases', arguing that European nations had nonetheless enabled US operations through bilateral agreements. He noted that between 4,000 and 5,000 US planes had taken off from European air bases during the campaign. 'I would argue, it would have been very difficult to do Iran without having Europe as a power projection platform for the United States,' he said.

NATO Commitment and Defence Spending

Speaking to reporters outside the West Wing, Rutte pushed back firmly against suggestions that Trump's commitment to NATO had weakened. 'He is completely committed to the NATO alliance,' Rutte said.

He added that Trump had been 'absolutely clear' in pressing allies to spend more on defence, describing last year's agreement to raise defence and security spending to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035 as one of the President's biggest foreign policy achievements. According to Rutte, European allies and Canada had increased defence spending by nearly 20 per cent in the past year alone.

Rutte also pointed to the economic dimension, saying European purchases from American defence manufacturers and European corporate investments were supporting nearly 200,000 US jobs — an argument likely calibrated to resonate with Trump's domestic political priorities.

Ukraine and the Road to Ankara

The NATO chief reaffirmed continued support for Ukraine, saying Kyiv was 'doing so much better over the last five, six months than before', crediting sustained US assistance for strengthening Ukraine's position on the battlefield.

The NATO summit in Ankara on 7–8 July is expected to focus on implementing the alliance's new defence spending commitments, expanding defence industrial output, and sustaining support for Ukraine. The alliance has also maintained that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon — a position Rutte repeatedly emphasised during his Washington visit. This comes amid a broader debate within NATO about burden-sharing and the future of European strategic autonomy.