NATO chief faces challenge at summit as Trump demands 'loyalty' and not just burden-sharing

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Since he started work as NATO secretary-general almost two years ago, Mark Rutte has spent much of his time trying to keep the United States anchored to the world’s biggest military alliance, employing outright flattery to dissuade U.S. President Donald Trump from acting on threats to abandon it.

But the goalposts keep shifting, raising the stakes ahead of this week’s summit in Turkey.

Initially, it was about money. Trump has long railed against NATO allies for spending too small a fraction of their national budgets on defense. But those problems were addressed at their summit last year, when U.S. allies committed to invest as much as America, in gross domestic product terms.

NATO's real problem now is turning that money into military capabilities, particularly as European countries worry about a possible attack from Russia.

Still, Rutte tried to put to bed any lingering concerns at a White House meeting last month, with a new pitch using a chart labeled the “The Trump Trillion” in gold letters — showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.

But Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed at some NATO allies’ refusal to join the Iran war, which he had launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

“We don’t need their money — we don’t need anything,” Trump said. “I just want loyalty.”

Trump suggested he might have skipped the upcoming summit entirely were it not being hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It’s a sign that even Erdogan and Rutte — foreign leaders Trump seems to hold in rare esteem — will have their work cut out for them in keeping the summit on track.

Historically, the prime tasks of NATO’s top civilian official — always a European, never an American — have been to encourage consensus in an organization that makes its decisions unanimously, and to speak on behalf of all 32 member countries.

But during both of Trump’s terms, Rutte and his predecessor at the helm of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, have dedicated a huge amount of energy just to keep the United States inside their alliance.

Trump has threatened to leave NATO, dallied with pulling U.S. troops out of Europe and vowed to take over the island of Greenland — a semiautonomous part of ally Denmark. He has cast doubt over whether he would defend another member not spending enough on their military, eroding trust.

Rutte’s approach has been heavy on flattery. Last month’s carefully choreographed pitch in the Oval Office — with props redolent of an American flag — laid down a new marker, even for a man heavily criticized for likening Trump to a “daddy.”

The charts showed tens of thousands of U.S. jobs were being created and a backlog of $300 billion in European orders for military equipment — all thanks to the “leader of the free world,” Rutte said.

He pushed back, gently, on Trump’s complaints that NATO did not support the U.S. against Iran, noting that up to 5,000 U.S. planes took off from bases in Europe before an April ceasefire.

NATO cannot function without its biggest and most powerful ally. Europe is being pushed to fend for itself even as Russia, the historical reason for the alliance, poses a greater threat.

Last month, the Pentagon surprised its NATO allies by announcing that it was scaling back the number of troops, warships, aircraft and drones it would provide if one of them came under attack. Trump has also sent conflicting messages about whether U.S. troop numbers would be lowered or increased.

The cutbacks and mixed messaging has undermined unity at the alliance, just as Russia has been probing Europe's defenses with drone flights near military bases across multiple countries, according to a study released on Thursday.

Each summit is meant to showcase the commitment to collective security — the all-for-one, one-for-all pledge enshrined in Article 5 of NATO’s treaty. It’s only been invoked once, when allies came to America’s aid after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The last NATO summit was held in The Hague, the hometown of Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister. The Dutch royal family hosted dinner, and Trump stayed overnight at the king’s palace.

Rutte got the allies behind a major defense spending pledge, and Trump left a happy man, calling his NATO partners a “nice group of people.”

This year, the summit will be hosted by Erdogan, another key NATO member with an independent streak. His close ties to Trump may keep the American president at the table, but it’s unlikely to mend the rifts.

Rutte has tried to convince Trump that his European partners are spending so much more that America can safely turn its attention to security challenges posed by China while they handle the war in Ukraine.

But Trump wants more now, and his demand for “loyalty” is hard to capture on any chart.

Rutte’s predecessor, Stoltenberg, has written in his memoir about chairing a 2018 summit that Trump nearly upended.

“If an American president says he no longer wishes to defend the other allies and leaves a NATO summit in protest, then the NATO treaty and its security guarantee aren’t worth very much,” Stoltenberg wrote.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte prepares to deliver an address during the America 250 event in Brussels, Sunday, June 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump listens as he meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

PARIS (AP) — Paris' appeals court is set to rule Tuesday in Marine Le Pen’s embezzlement case, a decision that could determine whether one of France’s leading presidential contenders can run in next year’s election.

Le Pen, 57, is appealing a March 2025 conviction that found her and other members of her National Rally party guilty of misusing European Parliament funds by paying party staff with money intended for EU parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016.

The lower court sentenced her to prison time, suspended pending appeal, and imposed a five-year ban on holding elected office. Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing and still hopes to mount a fourth bid for the presidency.

If she is barred from running, her longtime protégé Jordan Bardella, 30, could instead become the party’s presidential candidate, reshaping the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron.

Here’s a look at the possible outcomes and what they could mean for France’s 2027 presidential election.

In what would be the best-case scenario for Le Pen, the appeals court could clear her of all charges.

During the five-week appeal trial earlier this year, Le Pen acknowledged “a mistake.” She told the court some employees paid as EU parliamentary aides performed work for her party, then known as the National Front, but insisted that she believed such work was allowed and never attempted to hide it.

She also reproached European Parliament officials for not warning her party, at the time, that the way it was hiring people was potentially against any rules.

Le Pen’s lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, told the three-judge panel his client “is entrusting you with the work of her life, and the question is thus whether it will end here or whether it can be rebuilt.”

Prosecutors could still appeal to the Court of Cassation, France’s highest court, to challenge an acquittal decision.

The appeals court could find Le Pen guilty but reduce the ban on holding elected office to two years or less — or impose no ban at all.

Because the lower court ordered the ban to take immediate effect, Le Pen has been serving that portion of the sentence since March 31 last year. A ban of two years or less would expire before the first round of the French presidential election, scheduled in April 2027.

But that does not automatically mean Le Pen would run: Any prison sentence, electronic monitoring or other judicial restrictions could severely hamper a nationwide campaign.

Le Pen has suggested she would not launch a presidential bid in such case.

“If I’m allowed to be a candidate but am effectively prevented from campaigning freely, then you understand that wouldn’t be possible,” Le Pen said in an interview with LCI channel Wednesday.

"I can’t be dependent on a judge to authorize me to go hold a campaign rally ... or to visit a market.”

Prosecutors requested the appeals court to sentence Le Pen to four years in prison, including three suspended, in addition to a ban on holding elected office for five years. They accused Le Pen of being at the head of a “system” meant to “siphon off” EU public funds to the benefit of her party.

Although prosecutors did not ask for it, the appeals court is free to order the ban on holding elected office to take immediate effect, like the lower court did.

Le Pen could still appeal to the Court of Cassation, but it's unclear whether it would suspend the sentence pending a final ruling.

The Court of Cassation has previously said that, if asked to review the case, it would seek to issue a ruling before the 2027 presidential election.

“You can’t launch a presidential campaign at the last minute,” Le Pen said on the sidelines of the appeal trial.

She has argued that prolonged uncertainty — including a possible appeal to the Court of Cassation — would effectively prevent her from running because she would not want to jeopardize her party’s chances.

France’s presidential race is expected to begin taking shape in September before accelerating early next year. Candidates also must secure the endorsements of 500 elected officials to qualify for the ballot, making it difficult to replace a presidential nominee late in the campaign.

“If I’m prevented from running but the Court of Cassation rules in my favor three or four months later, it will be too late to conduct a proper presidential campaign," Le Pen told RTL radio last year.

FILE- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen reacts at the National Assembly during a session on April 1, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)