Trump Signals A Continued Pressure Campaign On Allies After Meeting With NATO Chief

President Donald Trump raged Thursday morning that America’s allies fail to understand “anything unless they have pressure placed upon them,” once again taking aim at NATO after his meeting with the alliance’s secretary-general.

Trump targeted NATO in two social media posts shortly after his Wednesday meeting at the White House with NATO chief Mark Rutte, who traveled to Washington, D.C., following Trump’s renewed threats to pull the United States from the alliance.

“NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Wednesday evening. “REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!”

Trump ripped NATO again Thursday morning, posting, “None of these people, including our own, very disappointing, NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!”

Trump’s frustration with NATO has been building for months, particularly after several alliance members pushed back on his idea to acquire Greenland. Tensions have intensified more recently as some allies have rejected the president’s calls to back U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Rutte met with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss the alliance and Europe’s stance on the Iran war.

“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN after the meeting.

Some NATO members — including the United Kingdom, France, and Spain — initially blocked U.S. aircraft from using their military bases for offensive strikes during “Operation Epic Fury.” The U.K. and France later allowed the United States limited use of bases for defensive purposes only, while Spain has remained a vocal opponent of the U.S. military operation.

“The large majority, including France, of European nations, has been doing what they committed they would do in a case like this,” Rutte said. “So Europe as a platform of power projection for the United States was in full play over the last six weeks. And yes, it is true that not all European nations lived up to those commitments, and I totally understand that [Trump] is disappointed about it.”

Rutte has been one of Trump’s biggest cheerleaders on the world stage in recent months and has repeatedly praised the U.S. president for forcing European nations to increase defense spending. The NATO secretary-general told CNN, “This was a meeting between friends because we like each other. I really admire his leadership … and NATO allies are with him when it comes to taking out, degrading the ballistic missile capacity of the Iranians.”

“The whole world is safer by this president degrading those capabilities,” Rutte added.

The United States is, by far, the largest financial supporter of NATO, covering more than 60% of the alliance’s defense spending, according to the Atlantic Council. Last year, the United States spent roughly $980 billion on NATO’s defense.

Amid Trump’s pressure and repeated threats to withdraw from NATO, member states have ramped up their defense spending commitments. At last year’s NATO summit, allies agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.