NATO chief Mark Rutte will meet Donald Trump, who is threatening to quit the Atlantic alliance, in Washington today in the wake of the US president’s announcement of a two-week truce with Iran.

Before that meeting, scheduled for 3.30pm (local time, 10.30pm GMT), the NATO secretary general met with Foreign Minister Marco Rubio.

Their talks focused on military operations against Iran, the war in Ukraine and enhancing coordination and “burden-sharing” with NATO allies, according to a statement from State Department spokesman Tommy Piggott.

The US has held a central military role in NATO since its founding in 1949 but last year won agreement from other members of the alliance for a strong increase in defence spending by 2035.

<p

Facing Donald Trump, Mark Rutte will once again have to leverage his personal relationship with the US president in an attempt to assuage harsh criticism of the organisation he leads.

The White House occupant has not spared praise for the NATO chief – “a great guy”, “great guy”, according to Trump – but has criticised the Europeans for refusing to help the United States and Israel in their attack on Iran, countries that have held a ceasefire for less than 24 hours.

– “Security Dynamics” –

According to an Atlantic Alliance official, this visit to the US had been planned “for a long time.”

The same official said the aim of the meeting with the US president was to “draw on the success of the NATO summit in The Hague” last year, when member countries pledged, under pressure from Donald Trump, to significantly increase their military spending.

In addition to strengthening transatlantic cooperation in the defence industry, the two officials are expected to “discuss the existing security dynamics in the context of Iran as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine”, he explained.

Rutte has for months engaged in a balancing act between the U.S. president’s attacks on European allies, whom he has called “cowards” among other things, and making sure he defends them without angering Donald Trump.

This exercise became particularly difficult with the start of US-Israeli attacks on Iran in late February, because of the US president’s frustration with what he sees as European evasion on Iran.

He specifically asked for their help in guaranteeing the security of the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil consumed passes.

The truce reached on Tuesday brokered by Pakistan envisages that Iran will reopen this sea passage to the Gulf, which Tehran had effectively blocked since the beginning of the war.

On Thursday, Rutte will deliver a speech and participate in a panel discussion organized by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation Institute.

Friday through Sunday, he will attend the annual meeting of the Bilderberg Club, which brings together political and economic leaders from Europe and North America.