 Washington – President Donald Trump will receive NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House on April 2, according to the US Presidency on Tuesday.
The visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance, which was born on April 4, 1949 in Washington.
Trump and Stoltenberg will talk about “the unprecedented successes of NATO, including the recent increase in commitments on the distribution of the (economic) burden among European allies,” the White House said.
The two leaders will also discuss “the ways to address the current and evolving challenges facing the Alliance” and will underscore their importance “as a bulwark of international peace and security.”
The president of the USA and the NATO Secretary General will hold a private meeting first and then participate in an expanded bilateral meeting.
Trump has been critical of NATO and since coming to power has complained that the US He spends too much on the Atlantic Alliance, an idea that he has repeatedly transferred to his partners in phone calls and bilateral meetings.
In fact, Trump came to regard NATO as an “obsolete” organization during the 2016 presidential campaign, although once in the White House it fell apart.
“NATO is wonderful, but it helps Europe more than it does us, so why are we paying the vast majority of its costs?” Trump asked during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the White House. just one year.
The April 2 will be the first meeting between Stoltenberg and Trump since the US president said he will press to include Brazil in the Atlantic Alliance.
“I will designate Brazil as a strategic ally outside NATO, or maybe even possibly an ally in NATO, I would have to talk to a lot of people, but maybe it will be an ally in NATO,” Trump said during the official visit of the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, last week to Washington (EFEUSA).
