After Trump’s statements about a possible withdrawal from NATO, the alliance’s secretary general goes to the White House

The NATO press service claims that the visit was planned, but one cannot help but link it with extremely tough statements about future relations with the bloc made not only by Trump, but also by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The US President said in an interview with the British newspaper The Telegraph that he is seriously considering the possibility of leaving NATO after the alliance’s allies refused to participate in the operation against Iran.

Answering the question whether the United States intends to reconsider relations with the bloc, the politician replied: “Even more than reconsider. I always knew that NATO is a paper tiger. By the way, Putin knows this too.”

“They didn’t do anything – I just can’t believe it. And you know, I didn’t insist, although I thought it went without saying, automatically. We automatically helped them, including in Ukraine. Ukraine is not our problem, but it was an exam, and we were with them. But they weren’t with us,” Trump said.

The US Secretary of State said in an interview with Al Jazeera that after the end of hostilities against Iran, the American administration intends to reconsider its relations with NATO.

“Countries like Spain, a member of the alliance that we promised to protect, prohibit us from using their bases, and even brag about it. This begs the question: how does NATO benefit the United States? If Europe demands our protection, but deprives us of bases when we need them, this is not a good agreement for us,” he said.