Mark Rutte is set to take over from Jens Stoltenberg as the secretary-general of the alliance.
Mark Rutte, the outgoing Dutch prime minister likely to become the next NATO chief, has enjoyed good ties with Donald Trump which could help the alliance in its standoff with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, whoever wins the White House.
During his presidency, Trump railed at NATO members not spending as much as the U.S. on defense and since he left office former officials have said the current Republican candidate had threatened to pull the U.S. out of the alliance.
In February Trump said he had told NATO members that he « would encourage » Russia « to do whatever the hell they want » to countries which are « delinquent » in their financial commitment to the alliance.
The comments sparked alarm amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and warnings from NATO leaders that Putin would look to attack countries in the alliance.
But Roger Hilton, defense research fellow at the Slovakia-based think tank GLOBSEC, said that even if Trump were to win, Rutte could be the best person to do business with him. At the last annual Munich Security Conference, Rutte said leaders should stop « moaning and whining about Trump » as he called for increased defense spending regardless of who wins the U.S. election.
« An undervalued characteristic of his profile that should potentially be of oversized value is his good rapport with Donald Trump should he regain the White House », Hilton told Newsweek.
