Rutte: Without Trump, Europe Would Still Be Weak
DAVOS, Switzerland — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday delivered unusually direct praise for U.S. President Donald Trump, arguing that Europe’s recent economic and defense momentum would not have materialized without Trump’s return to power.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rutte credited Trump with forcing European governments to confront long-standing underinvestment in both their economies and military capabilities.
“Do you really think that without Donald Trump, eight big economies in Europe — including Spain, Italy and Belgium — would have reached 2 percent growth in 2025 when they were only at 1.5 percent at the beginning of the year? No way,” Rutte said. “Without Donald Trump, this would never have happened.”
Rutte acknowledged that Trump remains controversial in many European political circles but argued that his pressure has produced tangible results. Over the past year, several European states sharply increased defense and economic spending, reversing years of fiscal restraint and reliance on U.S. security guarantees.
The NATO chief also linked Trump’s influence to a landmark shift in alliance policy: the agreement at last year’s NATO summit in The Hague to move toward defense spending equivalent to 5 percent of GDP, including 3.5 percent for core military capabilities.
“Do you really think that would have happened if President Trump had not been reelected? No way,” Rutte said. “It would never have happened.”
Rutte’s comments come amid strained relations between Washington and European allies over Trump’s push to acquire Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. While Trump ruled out using military force in a speech Wednesday, he reaffirmed that U.S. control of Greenland remains a strategic priority.
Rutte echoed Trump’s emphasis on the Arctic, warning that growing Chinese and Russian activity has transformed the region into a critical security frontier.
“We need to defend the Arctic,” Rutte said, noting that seven of the eight Arctic-bordering states are NATO members, with Russia the lone exception. “And China is increasingly active there as well. President Trump and other leaders are right — we have to protect the Arctic.”
The remarks highlight a broader recalibration inside NATO, where Trump’s confrontational approach has increasingly been framed not as destabilizing, but as catalytic — forcing Europe to shed strategic complacency and assume greater responsibility for its own security and economic resilience.
