NATO chief defends Trump to critical MSNBC host, says 'he was right' to hit allies on defense spending

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said President-elect Donald Trump was right to call on allied nations to spend more on defense, after being teed up by MSNBC's Jonathan Lemire to instead knock the returning president.

"Then President Donald Trump, at a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, came this close to pulling the United States out of that organization" in 2018, Lemire said during the Wednesday interview. "He has repeatedly criticized NATO since then. How is the alliance preparing for his return?"

"Well, he was right in 2018 when he said that we had to spend more," Rutte said. "Since then, we have massively on the European side, increased our defense spending. So this is thanks to Donald Trump."

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Critics have accused Trump of damaging the United States' reputation during his first term as president by berating allies for allegedly failing to pay their fair share. Trump threatened not to defend "delinquent" nations that leave the U.S. to make up shortfalls in NATO's defense budget.

NATO members agreed to work toward spending 2% of their annual GDP on defense, following Russia's annexation of Crimea a decade ago.

Only six member nations met the 2% goal in 2021, but this year, NATO expects a record 23 of 32 member nations to hit the Western military alliance's spending goals, according to data released over the summer.

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, NATO leaders have emphasized that the 2% target should be considered a minimum. Rutte reiterated that point on "Morning Joe" Wednesday.

"We need to do more. We cannot stick to 2%. It has to be much more if, longer term, we want to keep the deterrence against the Russians and others in a good shape," he said.

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Rutte also had a request for Trump as he prepares to return to the Oval Office, telling Lemire that European allies are "spending hundreds of billions of dollars" buying American gear. But the process is "so cumbersome," requiring agreements from the Pentagon, White House and Congress, Rutte said.

"He can help me and us here to help him, and also the American economy to open up, make sure that there's total access to the defense industrial base in the U.S.," Rutte said. 

He added, "So not only more defense spending on [the] European side. There he is right. But I need his help to make sure that we can also get to the excellent stuff the Americans are producing."

Poland and Estonia both led the United States this year in the percentage of their GDP they spend on defense, according to NATO. The U.S. is estimated to spend 3.38% of its GDP on defense.

Rutte, who stepped into the NATO role on Oct. 1, was Dutch prime minister during Trump's first term and had a reputation as a "Trump whisperer," POLITICO reported.