Ahead of a critical NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sought Thursday to allay concerns about the defense commitment of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to NATO allies all the while reiterating expectations that member states will commit to a path to boost defense spending to up to 5% of GDP.
“President Trump’s made clear he supports NATO. We’re going to remain in NATO,” Rubio said at the headquarters of the 32-member alliance, calling some of the “hysteria and hyperbole” he has seen in certain media about NATO “unwarranted.”
“He’s (Trump’s) not against NATO,” Rubio said. What the U.S. president doesn’t want is an alliance that “does not have the capabilities it needs to fulfill the obligations that the treaty imposes upon each and every member state,” he added.
