Trump: "NATO is a paper tiger"
United States – On Monday, Trump again harshly criticized NATO allies that did not provide assistance to the U.S. during the Iran war, and revived the dispute over Greenland ahead of the visit by the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance this week. The U.S. president, who has threatened to withdraw from NATO, said: "You know, if you want the truth, it all started with Greenland. We want Greenland. They don't want to give it to us. I said: [Then goodbye]".
Trump threatened to annex Greenland—a vast Arctic territory under Danish sovereignty—but abandoned the idea amid protests from European allies. In a press conference, the U.S. president reiterated that "NATO is a paper tiger" and emphasized that Russian President "Putin isn't afraid of NATO." Trump stated, "Putin fears us—he's very afraid. He tells me this often."
The U.S. president condemned allies for "just refusing to help the United States. They don’t even want to provide us with landing runways."
Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO, is expected to arrive in Washington this week. On Wednesday, he will meet with Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Trump said: "As you know, he’ll be coming to see me on Wednesday. He’s a great guy. The Secretary General is great."
For months, Mark Rutte has been navigating between Trump’s scathing attacks on European allies—whom Trump described as "cowardly"—and efforts to maintain balance without provoking Trump.
Trump also criticized America’s allies in Asia, claiming South Korea, Japan, and Australia are standing idle. Trump said: "We have 45,000 soldiers in South Korea, protecting them from Kim Jong-un. I get along very well with Kim Jong-un. He says many kind things to me," Trump added: "You’ve noticed that North Korea’s situation is progressing smoothly—it’s really going well."
Source: rfi
Original: toutiao.com/article/1861761847001095/
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