NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has faced the American press pack outside the White House following his meeting with US President Donald Trump.
Mr Rutte praised the US President as he faced multiple questions on wide-ranging topics such as on the war in Iran and specific NATO members.
“One thing about NATO, when it comes to the defence of the United States, NATO is crucial,” he said.
Mr Rutte also refused to comment on certain topics when questioned by the media.
What Mark Rutte said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, discussed the upcoming Ankara summit and praised the US president's leadership on defense spending and industrial production. He cited a 20% increase in European and Canadian defense spending, a $139 billion nominal dollar increase, and noted that 4,000 to 5,000 US troops are in Europe under bilateral agreements, not NATO. On Iran, he reiterated NATO's consistent position that Iran must never gain nuclear capability, calling it a danger to the world. He defended the president's commitment to NATO while emphasizing expectations for allies to equalize spending. He mentioned that European companies investing in the US create over 80,000 jobs, with more than 1,100 jobs supported by European purchases from US firms, totaling nearly 200,000 jobs. He declined to comment on private discussions between allies. He disagreed with Spain's prime minister on reaching capability targets at 2.2% spending, not 3.5%. He introduced 'NATO 3.0' where Europe takes more conventional responsibility while the US remains involved, especially with nuclear. He noted $50 billion in US defense sales to Europe and Canada last year and a $300 billion order book, and mentioned the president's push to quadruple US defense production.
Key takeaways
European and Canadian defense spending rose 20% last year, a $139 billion nominal dollar increase, showing commitment to equalizing with the US.
NATO has a consistent position that Iran must never acquire nuclear capability, which would be a danger to the world.
European investments in the US support nearly 200,000 jobs, with over 80,000 from European companies and more than 1,100 from European purchases of US defense goods.
Rutte disagrees with Spain's prime minister on reaching capability targets at 2.2% core defense spending, not 3.5%, and expects the future to prove him right.
The US defense industry had over $50 billion in sales to Europe and Canada last year, with a total order book of $300 billion.
Numbers and commitments
Figure
What it refers to
Type
At
20%
Increase in European and Canadian defense spending last year
Good to see you all. Was a good meeting. We discussed of course the upcoming Ankara summit, but also very much the president's leadership on ramping up when it comes to spending in Europe and Canada - very successful - but also when it comes to ramping up defense industrial production. He is now meeting with the big defense industry companies in the United States. I hope they are well prepared, because he will no doubt require them also to do more. That's really crucial in his leadership on all of this, but also of course on Iran, the nuclear capability degrading - that's crucial for the whole world - and on Ukraine, bringing Ukraine to a lasting peace. Ukraine is doing so much better over the last five, six months than before, also thanks to all the help the US is providing. So a lot to discuss. We did that in a very good atmosphere and I'm looking forward to the summit.
Can you, can you about? 500? There has been tension between the Defense Secretary Mr. Crett? The Pentagon released a message last March when I was in Italy did not?
Let me say this. When you look at Europe as a total, Europe has 4,000 to 5,000. This is not NATO, it's bilateral agreements between the United States and individual nations all over the world. Europe is one big power protection platform for the United States - again 4,000 to 5,000.
Let me say from NATO perspective, that obviously Iran is not in the NATO territory. What is important here is that NATO always had a consistent position as an alliance with the United States - all 32 nations - that Iran should never get its hands on nuclear capability. I think there is a lot at play here. Of course, freedom of navigation - clearly you heard the president about that, he was very clear in the presser in the Oval Office - and there is this big issue of the nuclear capability. And when it comes to the nuclear capability, I really want to say this again: Iran having its hands on nuclear capability - this country exporting chaos, exporting terrorism - would be a danger to the whole world, particularly to the region, to Israel, and to Europe, but also the rest of the world.
He is completely committed to the NATO alliance, but he is also absolutely clear - this is the great strength of this president - he was always clear: 'I'm committed to the NATO alliance, but I expect allies to spend more to equalize with the United States.' Last year, a 20% increase - Europeans and Canadians $139 billion nominal dollar spending increase - is evidence that not only was there the commitment, but now we are delivering. This is thanks to his leadership. So yes, committed, but also a clear expectation. And you heard him about, of course, Iran. He sees what European.
I would say two things. First of all, the Europeans and Canada are now on a trajectory to equalize their spending with the United States. This was a problem since this president got this down. This was what we discussed, decided, and it is now happening. Last year, Europeans and Canada spent almost 20% more. That's clear evidence. One second. When it comes to the spending of this money, we know that a lot of this money is being spent in the United States in two ways: European companies investing in the United States creating a lot of jobs, supporting a lot of jobs - you saw the chart I used in the Oval Office, I think it is over 80,000 jobs created by European companies investing in the United States - and then you have about more than 1,100 jobs being supported by the fact that European allies are buying from US companies. So there is now a fair deal. We are all going to spend the same, and we are also seeing that close to 200,000 jobs are being supported by all these investments. I think this is a good deal for all taxpayers. Absolutely, absolutely.
Let me not - when there are discussions between allies, as you know I'm always a bit muted. These are both great leaders, but let me not comment on these types of discussions, because I can be most helpful behind the scenes.
Are you concerned about? It might policy successes in 2025 was the NATO summit in The Hague commitment to spend 5%. We are seeing now in 2026, is that money?
8 more exchanges in this transcript
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Rutte, M. (2026, June 25). NATO’s Mark Rutte appears agitated as he shuts down some reporters’ questions [Interview transcript]. Sky News Australia. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1047085/
MLA
Mark Rutte. "NATO’s Mark Rutte appears agitated as he shuts down some reporters’ questions." Sky News Australia, 25 Jun. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1047085/.
BibTeX
@misc{rutte2026_1047085,
author = {Mark Rutte},
title = {NATO’s Mark Rutte appears agitated as he shuts down some reporters’ questions},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Sky News Australia. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jun},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1047085/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
