Jake Tapper Asks NATO Chief if Trump Threatened ‘To Withdraw From NATO’ in Private Meeting

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte whether President Donald Trump had threatened to leave the alliance in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt shocked the briefing room when she told reporters that Trump has “discussed” trying to withdraw the U.S. from NATO.

“It’s something the president has discussed, and I think it’s something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary-General Rutte,” she said.

The president has long maligned NATO, and in his second term has even threatened to seize Greenland, a territory of Denmark, a NATO ally. Most recently, of course, Trump has raged at U.S. European allies over their refusal to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which remains closed despite Tuesday’s two-week “ceasefire.” Iran said the strait will remain closed until Israel stops its offensive in Lebanon.

Shortly after Rutte met with Trump, the secretary-general joined The Lead, where Tapper tried to gauge how serious Trump is about withdrawing from NATO, an act that, per a 2023 law, requires congressional approval.

“Did the president say he was going to try to withdraw from NATO, or at the very least not support NATO as much as other presidents have?” the host inquired.

“Well, as I said, there is the disappointment clearly,” Rutte replied. “But at the same time, he was also listening careful[ly] to my arguments of what is happening. And I also pointed him to the fact that it was his leadership,which brought about The Hague spending commitment. So, the 5%, which is a transformational change in NATO. This is a transformational legacy he leaves behind. This is NATO 3.0, the Europeans being able to take more care for their own defense. So, a stronger Europe and a stronger NATO.”

Tapper later asked Rutte how “terrified” he is that Trump would try to leave the alliance, but Rutte did not bite.

“On a scale of one to 10, one being not worried at all, 10 being terrified, where do you leave Washington thinking President Trump, your opinion of President Trump wanting to leave NATO?” he asked. “Are you one? ‘I’m not worried at all.’ Ten. ‘I’m really worried Trump is gonna pull out of NATO?'”

“Well, I’m not going to get into that answering that question,” Rutte said, laughing.

Watch above via CNN.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!