Despite the ceasefire between the US and Iran, the threat of America leaving NATO is far from being over since former top US officials argue that the president’s dislike of the alliance remains unchanged.
Former US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, argued that an exit from NATO would be a “devastating blow” to the deterrent capability in Europe.
As she explained in her recent interview, nowadays there is a clear “trust deficit” within the alliance since European countries see the US as highly unpredictable.
Another former US ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder told that the last six weeks have been extremely damaging for the future of the organization and that, perhaps for the first time in almost eight decades of its existence, the alliance faces a major crisis.
The former diplomat is unsure if Trump will defend his allies in case of a military invasion by another state.
Their warnings came after a tense meeting behind closed doors between Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday.
After the two hour meeting, Trump wrote on Truth Social that NATO had failed a key test.
He said that the alliance was not there for the US when it needed it and would not be in the future. He also brought back his long standing obsession with taking Greenland away from Denmark, a NATO ally.
Rutte, who is famously known as the “Trump whisperer”, said he was aware that Trump felt angry about the lack of support of his allies in the fight against Iran
This tension arose from the anger of President Trump towards certain NATO countries for their failure to provide air corridors to US aircrafts and sending naval ships to ensure the reopening of the strategically significant Strait of Hormuz.
While Spain prohibited US aircrafts from using the air corridor for conducting any operations against Iran, France accused the US of fighting in an illegal war.
This week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told that Washington needed to look again at whether the alliance was still useful or had turned into a one way deal.
That statement was especially ironic because Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, helped write the bipartisan law that is now part of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.
Law says that no president can unilaterally pull the US out of NATO without getting approval from Congress.
The legal experts have pointed out, though, that if Trump decides to contest this legislation the courts may very well rule in favor of the executive branch on the issue of withdrawing from the treaty.
Moreover, regardless of whether or not a formal withdrawal takes place, the harm may be considerable.
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European partners have complained that Trump’s incessant verbal assaults are undermining their commitment to defend one another against external aggression when they are most vulnerable.
The impact is potentially catastrophic for the Baltic nations, as well as other Eastern European states that share borders with Russia.
Smith stated that the coming days would mark Rutte’s finest hour, in that Trump seemed to genuinely like the NATO Secretary General and was generally trusting of him.
It remains to be seen whether their friendly relationship will suffice to keep the 32 country alliance intact.
