Rutte smiles and Rubio flees as NATO survives a summit

BRUSSELS — NATO is still alive following this week's meeting of foreign ministers, but despite protestations that the alliance is in fine health, there were signs of trouble in Brussels.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte insisted Friday that "we are united in our commitment to each other in this alliance," and that the "transatlantic relationship remains the cornerstone of European security and of global stability."

“I know there has been some tough language. I know that there have been allies, for example, this side of the pond being worried about the long-term commitment of the U.S. to NATO,” said Rutte, adding: "The Americans have stated again and again, ‘We are committed to NATO. We are committed to Article 5.'"

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the view that the U.S. is disengaging from the alliance "hysteria and hyperbole." His debut was smoother than that of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who warned in February during his first trip to Europe as Pentagon chief that American troops are not in Europe forever.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said U.S. President Donald Trump assured NATO that the alliance’s Article 5 collective defense commitment remains intact and that he will attend a summit of alliance leaders in June in The Hague.

But this week's two-day meeting took place as the world scrambled to react to Trump unleashing a global trade war — with steep tariffs hitting NATO allies in Europe and Canada.

Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly warned her European counterparts that the relationship with the U.S. would "never be the same again."

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever criticized the U.S  demand to boost defense spending while launching a trade war and insulting European allies. “It becomes a little complicated to demand things from us after one launches a trade war, after we are humiliated and insulted all the time,” he said before a meeting with Rubio.

Allies have been spooked by other U.S. moves over the last two months: cutting off military aid to Ukraine, cozying up to Russia, Trump warning he may not defend NATO allies he feels are underspending on defense, attacks on Canadian sovereignty, and threats to invade Greenland.

That made for a very uncomfortable closing press conference for Rutte.

Despite his signature avuncular style, Rutte had a hard time convincing the press that the tariffs imposed on allied countries would not affect their effort to boost military budgets. Trump wants NATO to increase its defense spending target from 2 percent of GDP to 5 percent.

“Thanks for helping us hit 5 percent targets by crashing the world economy," a member of the French delegation told their U.S. counterpart during the closed-door meeting, according to an official granted anonymity to speak on the sensitive discussions, who was present in the room.

Rutte danced around the threat the U.S. poses to Greenland, a part of the Danish Kingdom, saying, "I think we should zoom out from Greenland."

He also dodged several questions on the impact of the trade war.

“I don't think I'm helping this alliance by commenting on something which is not really part of alliance policy," he said.

Meanwhile, Rubio headed back to Washington after scrapping his planned final press conference, something that the U.S. delegation said was due to a scheduling change.

Despite those discordant notes, foreign ministers continued to insist that the alliance is still functioning.

"We all understand and feel the profound change in the international relations and in this situation the Czech policy is to keep America as much as possible involved in European security," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský told POLITICO. "NATO presence is one of the unique tools to do so."

Other officials underlined that they were meeting Trump's demand to increase their military budgets.

“At a time of significant security challenges, first things come first — we are of course prioritizing security and defense,” said Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, whose country aims to raise its defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2028.

Rutte seized on those voices.

"We will invest more. Much more," he said in his final news briefing.

Laura Kayali contributed reporting from Paris.