The White House has officially confirmed Donald Trump’s participation in the upcoming NATO summit, scheduled to take place in The Hague on June 24-25
This is a key event for the alliance, drawing attention not only to Europe's security issues but also to the status of American leadership on the global stage. White House spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt briefly confirmed during a briefing that the U.S. President will cancel his official visit to the Netherlands to attend this international gathering. She stated, “I can confirm that he will go to the NATO summit.” This decision has sparked considerable resonance among foreign policy experts and analysts, since Trump’s participation is always associated with an active diplomatic stance of the United States on issues of global security. It is also worth emphasizing that the main topic of the summit will be the defense spending of NATO member countries. The American President insists that all alliance members increase their military expenditure to 5% of GDP, significantly above current average levels. Trump consistently calls on countries to balance their budgets towards strengthening defense capabilities. According to organizers’ plans, the summit will discuss not only target expenditure levels for military procurement but also issues related to the broader distribution of funds for infrastructure and cybersecurity measures. Under the new agreements, countries will be required to allocate 3.5% of GDP to core defense needs and an additional 1.5% to expenses related to civilian protection, infrastructure, cyber defense, and improving the resilience of the civilian population overall. At the same time, media reports have highlighted an important diplomatic development — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg officially invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to participate in the upcoming Alliance summit in The Hague. This has been a challenging moment for many political players, as previous doubts existed about the possibility of inviting the Ukrainian leader. According to sources, some Western countries, notably the United States, expressed concerns about opening the doors for Ukraine at the high diplomatic level. However, in response, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected such rumors, denying any opposition from the American delegation regarding Zelensky’s invitation. This indicates NATO’s intention to pursue more active bilateral and multilateral cooperation and shows support for Ukraine in its fight for security and European integration. Thus, the upcoming summit in The Hague will be a pivotal event for global security politics. Trump’s participation and the questions surrounding Ukraine’s invitation at the highest level demonstrate current challenges and trends in European and international politics. It is expected that, during the event, leaders of the member countries will outline new strategies and agree on strengthening collective defense, taking into account modern threats, including the rising geopolitical tension and new challenges in the digital sphere.