{"id":25525,"date":"2018-07-08T16:32:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-08T16:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/08\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T16:07:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T16:07:59","slug":"off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/08\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to Europe: Trump to meet worried NATO heads, then Putin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 With the established global order on shaky footing, President Donald Trump\u2019s weeklong trip to Europe will test already strained bonds with some of the United States\u2019 closest allies, then put him face to face with the leader of the country whose electoral interference was meant to help put him in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump departs Tuesday on a four-nation tour amid simmering disputes over trade and military spending with fellow Western democracies and speculation about whether he will rebuke or embrace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/congress\/2018\/07\/05\/ahead-of-summit-lawmakers-worry-over-what-trump-will-say-to-putin\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a>. He meets the Russian leader in Helsinki as the finale of a trip with earlier stops in Belgium, England and Scotland.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/21\/why-the-head-of-nato-says-theres-no-guarantee-that-the-trans-atlantic-alliance-will-survive\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18172394899011.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Why the head of NATO says there\u2019s \u2018no guarantee\u2019 that the trans-Atlantic alliance will survive<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The bonds between Europe and North America are under strain and there\u2019s no guarantee the trans-Atlantic partnership will survive, the head of NATO warned Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has shown little regard for America\u2019s traditional bonds with the Old World, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/05\/25\/trump-scolds-fellow-nato-leaders-spend-more-for-military\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">publicly upbraiding world leaders at NATO\u2019s new headquarters<\/a> a year ago for not spending enough on defense and delivering searing indictments of Western trading partners last month at an international summit in Canada. On this trip, after meeting with NATO leaders in Brussels, he\u2019ll travel to the United Kingdom, where widespread protests are expected, before he heads to one of his Scottish golf resorts for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the run-up to his trip, the president did little to ease European concerns by delivering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/03\/nato-allies-defend-military-spending-amid-trump-criticism\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">fresh broadsides against NATO<\/a>, an intergovernmental military alliance of 29 North American and European countries aimed at countering possible Russian aggression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ll tell NATO: \u2018You\u2019ve got to start paying your bills,\u2018\u201d Trump pledged at a rally last week in Montana in which he bemoaned that Americans were \u201cthe schmucks that are paying for the whole thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2018\/07\/05\/trumps-nato-summit-focus-wont-include-withdrawing-troops-from-europe\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/10743383375_0db85a669b_k.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump\u2019s NATO summit focus won\u2019t include withdrawing troops from Europe<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Recent reports said Pentagon officials are analyzing moving large numbers of U.S. forces out of Europe at the president&#039;s request.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He then laced into German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will be in attendance in Brussels, complaining about how much the United States put toward Germany\u2019s defense: \u201cAnd I said, you know, Angela, I can\u2019t guarantee it, but we\u2019re protecting you, and it means a lot more to you. &#8230; I don\u2019t know how much protection we get from protecting you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the same time, he declared that \u201cPutin is fine\u201d and that he had been preparing for their summit \u201call my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18187746828773.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18187746828773.jpg.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18187746828773.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18187746828773.jpg.jpg?resize=768,512 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In this May 17, 2018, file photo, President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (Evan Vucci\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts fear the trip could produce a repeat of the dynamics from Trump\u2019s last trip abroad, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2018\/06\/10\/unorthodox-trump-faces-toughest-test-yet-in-north-korea-summit\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">he admonished Group of Seven allied nations<\/a> at a summit in Canada before heading to Singapore, where <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2018\/06\/14\/trump-on-video-saluting-north-korean-general-at-summit\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">he showered praise on one of America\u2019s longest-standing adversaries<\/a>, North Korea\u2019s Kim Jong Un.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat people are worried about this trip is he\u2019ll have equally difficult interactions with his NATO counterparts,\u201d including Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said James Goldgeier, a visiting senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and professor at American University, who is an expert in NATO and security alliances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe main concern is he will spend much of the time berating them on not spending enough on defense\u201d before having \u201ca love fest with Putin, like he did with Chairman Kim,\u201d Goldgeier said. He added that if Trump is warmer toward Putin than the leaders of the military alliance that was founded to protect Europe from Soviet threats, it would go \u201ca long way to undermining NATO, undermining the trans-Atlantic relationship, undermining our relationship with our allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/05\/17\/trump-nato-allies-who-miss-spending-targets-will-be-dealt-with\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_18137662054525.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump: NATO allies who miss spending defense targets will be \u2018dealt with\u2019<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that NATO allies that do not meet the organization\u2019s defense spending targets would be \u201cdealt with,\u201d and singled out Germany as one country he said was not doing enough.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump is expected to continue to press NATO nations to fulfill their commitments to spend 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. Trump has argued that countries not paying their fair share are freeloading off the U.S. and has threatened to stop protecting those he feels pay too little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NATO estimates that 15 members, or just over half, will meet the benchmark by 2024 based on current trends. Trump sent letters to the leaders of several NATO countries ahead of his visit, warning that it would become \u201cincreasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries fail to meet our shared collective security commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ties between the U.S. and many of its longest-standing allies have frayed since Trump took office and put his \u201cAmerica first\u201d agenda into practice. He has pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement as well as the Iran nuclear deal, slapped tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and threatened additional tariffs on products like automobiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although administration officials point to the long-standing alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom, Trump\u2019s itinerary will largely keep him out of central London, where significant protests are expected. Instead, a series of events \u2014 a black-tie dinner with business leaders, a meeting with Prime Minister Theresa May and an audience with Queen Elizabeth II \u2014 will happen outside the bustling city, where Mayor Sadiq Khan has been in a verbal battle with Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Woody Johnson, Trump\u2019s ambassador to the U.K., said the president is aware of the planned protests but insisted that Trump \u201cappreciates free speech\u201d in both countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The G-7 world leaders\u2019 meeting in Canada last month ended in tumult when Trump suddenly retracted his endorsement of the group\u2019s final joint statement after his departure and railed against Trudeau by midflight tweet en route to Singapore for his summit with Kim, a meeting that critics said legitimized Kim on the world stage without securing a clear pathway to the denuclearization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe president was willing to offer concessions to Kim without getting anything specific or concrete in return,\u201d said Jeffrey Rathke, deputy director of the Europe Program at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the decision had sparked \u201ckind of a frenzy\u201d about what concessions Trump might be willing to offer Putin without NATO signoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Putin\u2019s wish list: an end to U.S. military exercises in Europe and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/07\/02\/pentagon-reportedly-assessing-cost-of-withdrawing-troops-from-germany\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">scaling back of U.S. forces there<\/a>. The summit also will offer Putin a chance to try to persuade Trump to lift some of the sanctions imposed on Russia over its 2014 annexation of Crimea, its support for separatists fighting the government in eastern Ukraine and its alleged meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/19\/trump-had-second-conversation-with-putin-in-germany\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ap17199822604186.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump had second conversation with Putin in Germany<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">President Donald Trump had another, previously undisclosed conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a summit it Germany.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has already met with Putin twice as president, including a meeting on the sidelines of a summit in Germany that stretched for more than two hours. But plans for a full-fledged summit had been delayed amid the FBI and congressional probes into whether Trump campaign aides coordinated with Russia to help Trump win the election. Trump has dismissed those probes as nothing but a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Saying that he wants to improve relations with Moscow, Trump has repeatedly cast doubt on conclusions by the nation\u2019s intelligence agencies that Russia tried to help him win the 2016 election, noting that Putin has \u201cstrongly\u201d denied being behind the interference. U.S. officials said the two sides this time would be discussing Russian election meddling, Russia\u2019s incursions in the Ukraine and involvement in Syria.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the established global order on shaky footing, President Donald Trump\u2019s weeklong trip to Europe will test already strained bonds with some of the United States\u2019 closest allies, then put him face to face with the leader of the country whose electoral interference was meant to help put him in office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":54031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,23,88,12,26,62,65],"tags":[8511,8543],"coauthors":[1991,721],"class_list":["post-25525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy","tag-europe","tag-united-kingdom"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4BKBJKVJY5ABPCECERZWINXQCY","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/08\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Off to Europe: Trump to meet worried NATO heads, then Putin - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With the established global order on shaky footing, President Donald Trump\u2019s weeklong trip to Europe will test already strained bonds with some of the United States\u2019 closest allies, then put him face to face with the leader of the country whose electoral interference was meant to help put him in office.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Off to Europe: Trump to meet worried NATO heads, then Putin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the established global order on shaky footing, President Donald Trump\u2019s weeklong trip to Europe will test already strained bonds with some of the United States\u2019 closest allies, then put him face to face with the leader of the country whose electoral interference was meant to help put him in office.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/07\/08\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-08T16:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T16:07:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jill Colvin, The Associated Press, Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jill Colvin, The Associated Press, Jonathan Lemire, The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/08\\\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2018\\\/07\\\/08\\\/off-to-europe-trump-to-meet-worried-nato-heads-then-putin\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": 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