Trump faces an alliance shaped to his liking as he attends the NATO summit

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- U.S. President Donald Trump huddled connected Wednesday with members of a NATO confederation that helium has worked to crook to his volition implicit the years and whose members are rattled by his latest comments casting uncertainty connected the U.S. committedness to its communal defence guarantees.

Trump's comments en way to the Netherlands that his fidelity to Article 5 “depends connected your definition" drew attraction astatine the NATO summit, arsenic volition the caller and fragile Iran-Israel ceasefire that the Republican president helped broker aft the U.S. unloaded airstrikes connected Iran's atomic facilities.

At the aforesaid time, the confederation is poised to enact 1 of Trump's main priorities: a pledge by NATO subordinate countries to increase, sometimes significantly, however overmuch they walk connected their defense.

“I've been asking them to spell up to 5% for a fig of years,” Trump said Wednesday arsenic helium met with Mark Rutte, the alliance's secretary-general. “I deliberation that's going to beryllium precise large news.”

The boost successful spending follows years of Trump's complaints that different countries weren't paying their just stock for rank successful an confederation created arsenic a bulwark against threats from the erstwhile Soviet Union. Most NATO countries, with the cardinal objection of Spain, are preparing to endorse the 5% pledge, motivated to bolster their ain defenses not conscionable by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s penetration of Ukraine but also, perhaps, to placate Trump.

As a campaigner successful 2016, Trump suggested that arsenic president helium would not needfully heed the alliance’s communal defence guarantees outlined successful Article 5 of the NATO treaty. In March of this year, helium expressed uncertainty that NATO would travel to the United States' defence if needed, though the confederation did conscionable that aft the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

On Tuesday, helium told reporters aboard Air Force One connected his mode to The Hague for the acme that whether helium is committed to Article 5 “depends connected your definition.”

“There’s galore definitions of Article 5. You cognize that, right?” Trump said. “But I’m committed to being their friends.” He signaled that helium would springiness a much precise explanation of what Article 5 means to him erstwhile helium was astatine the summit.

New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the apical Democrat connected the Foreign Relations Committee, who traveled to The Hague and met with respective overseas leaders astatine the summit, said different countries raised “understandable questions” astir the U.S. committedness to the alliance, “certainly fixed President Trump's past statements.”

“We were precise beardown and reassuring everyone that we are committed to NATO, we are committed to Article 5, we are committed to maintaining troops connected the Eastern flank,” said Shaheen, who represented the U.S. Senate with Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware.

Trump besides vented to reporters earlier leaving Washington astir the actions by Israel and Iran aft his announced ceasefire — though connected Monday, helium said the ceasefire was “very good.”

After Trump arrived successful the Netherlands, quality outlets, including The Associated Press, reported that a U.S. quality study suggested successful an aboriginal appraisal that Iran's atomic programme had been set backmost lone a fewer months by play strikes and was not “completely and afloat obliterated,” arsenic Trump had said.

But connected Wednesday morning, Trump and different elder Cabinet officials vigorously pushed backmost connected the assessment, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the medication was launching an probe into who disclosed those findings to reporters.

“That deed ended the war," Trump said. Drawing comparisons to the atomic bombings from the U.S. during World War II, helium added: "I don’t privation to usage an illustration of Hiroshima. I don’t privation to usage an illustration of Nagasaki. But that was fundamentally the aforesaid thing. That ended that war.”

The White House has not said which different satellite leaders Trump would conscionable with 1 connected 1 portion successful The Hague, but Trump said during his gathering with Rutte that helium volition conscionable with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy aboriginal Wednesday.

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Associated Press writer Darlene Superville successful Washington contributed to this report.