A relaxed Donald Trump said Nato’s decision to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP was a “big win” for western civilisation in a digressive press conference at a summit in The Hague where he reaffirmed the US’s commitment to the military alliance.
There was every sign that the careful setup of the summit – in which most allies in Europe and Canada committed billions more on defence – had worked to keep Trump bound in to the alliance, with the US president praising Mark Rutte, its secretary general, and a night where he “slept beautiful” in the Dutch king’s palace.
