Donald Trump yesterday said he no longer believed Nato is a ‘rip-off’ and that ‘of course’ he would help defend Europe if it came under attack.
Leaders breathed a sigh of relief as the US President hailed the military alliance and didn’t throw a grenade into its summit – as he has done at previous gatherings.
In what was largely an exercise in taming the leader of Nato’s biggest spender, the alliance’s boss Mark Rutte even appeared to joke that Mr Trump was ‘Daddy’.
There had been growing jitters before the two-day summit after Mr Trump suggested, while travelling to the gathering in The Hague, that he could dismiss Article 5 of the Nato treaty in future.
This states that an attack on one Nato country is an attack on all and that member nations will help defend that ally.
