Ahead of the kickoff on Wednesday evening of the Great American State Fair, President Trump met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House.
Pres. Trump spoke at length about his disappointment in several of the NATO countries over their refusal to help the U.S. with the Iran war, namechecking the U.K., Germany, Spain, and Italy.
.@POTUS on NATO members being unwilling to help with Iran: “We were disappointed with the U.K., we were disappointed with Germany and France… Spain is terrible… but I have great respect for this man, and so we’re going to be discussing what took place.” pic.twitter.com/cybZhF1jVV
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026
Rutte said he wanted the gathered media to know how serious the threat was from Iran to the countries in the region, especially how close it was to getting a nuke:
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praises President Trump for his work on Iran 🙌
“I really want to make clear how important it is what you are doing on Iran.
This is, first of all, about the nuclear capability Iran was getting its hands on. It would’ve been a threat to the… pic.twitter.com/uR3RxnhL6A
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 24, 2026
He brought up the fact that the leaders at last week’s G7 meeting applauded Pres. Trump for his leadership in degrading Iran’s nuclear capability.
READ MORE: Trump Tells G7 ‘I’m the Boss’ and Reminds World Leaders Who’s Back
Rutte then stood up, and moved over to some charts, with one showing what he described as the “Trump Trillion”:
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte GIVES CREDIT to Trump for increased defense spending among NATO allies:
“The ‘Trump Trillion’ shows you the increase Europeans and Canadians are paying into defense since you took office in 2017.” pic.twitter.com/CK7nMXUoou
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) June 24, 2026
Rutte explained that in the Trump 45 and 47 administrations, the president was successful in influencing the NATO countries to pay closer to their fair share of defense spending.
During the Q and A, a reporter from the U.K. asked Trump what he thought of the incoming prime minister, Andy Burnam:
.@POTUS on likely Keir Starmer replacement Andy Burnham: “I hear he’s extremely liberal—extremely… I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice: I said ‘open up the North Sea’…they should open up the North Sea, that’s an easy one—and a lot of good things are going to happen.” pic.twitter.com/ADyFEodTtL
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) June 24, 2026
READ MORE: It’s Bloody Over: Keir Starmer’s Collapse Is Complete
Tearful Starmer Out in UK, Hysteria for Burnham: 89% Say Call Election Now
While he said he “didn’t know anything” about how the change in leadership would affect the relationship with the U.S., although he had heard Burnham’s “extremely liberal—extremely.” Trump expanded on his answer to talk about Keir Starmer’s exit; the president shared some advice he gave the former prime minister about oil and the North Sea. Trump said that many oil executives had begged him to broach the subject of opening up the area to oil production. He didn’t make any headway with Starmer, he said.
His guess about Burnham, since he’s “extremely liberal,” was that he would not take Trump’s advice on the North Sea, either, he said.
You can watch the full meeting below:
WATCH LIVE: President Trump meets with NATO Sec Gen. Rutte at the White House https://t.co/jXYQF8Hwdb
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 24, 2026
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.
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