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WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is acceptable to be his archetypal NATO acme since returning to the White House, but what was expected to beryllium a gathering focused connected defence spending is present overshadowed by escalating tensions successful the Middle East.
Trump connected Monday announced that Israel and Iran had reached a "complete and full ceasefire" conscionable hours earlier departing for The Hague. The displacement successful hostilities is present expected to predominate the summit's agenda, making this 1 of NATO's astir consequential gatherings since the Cold War.
Trump pushes for much NATO defence spending
The summit's archetypal absorption was connected a historical subject spending pledge from members of the alliance, successful which Trump demanded contributions of astatine slightest 5% of their GDP to defense.
Spain has already rejected the spending target, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calling it "incompatible with our worldview."
The ongoing warfare betwixt Russia and Ukraine is besides expected to beryllium a apical item, and observers are watching for a imaginable sideline gathering betwixt Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Their face-to-face gathering astatine the Group of Seven acme was canceled erstwhile Trump near early.
Focus is now long-term peace: Vance
Trump's ceasefire announcement Monday followed an Iranian counter-attack connected a U.S. subject basal successful Qatar. The president dismissed the onslaught arsenic a "weak response," claiming Tehran had fixed beforehand warning.
Iran and Israel agreed mutually to halt fighting; however, some nations person since exchanged fire.
Before the woody faltered, Vice President JD Vance said the administration's absorption is to unafraid semipermanent peace.
"While we person obliterated the Iranian atomic program, our anticipation and our anticipation is that they're not gonna effort to rebuild that program," Vance told Fox News. "I deliberation that's what the president is truly trying to fig retired here, is to physique a semipermanent colony here."
Over the weekend, the U.S. conducted "Operation Midnight Hammer," which struck three Iranian atomic facilities — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
Trump called the attacks a "spectacular subject success" and has since floated the thought of a regime change in Iran if the "current Iranian Regime is incapable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN."
The fallout from Trump's subject strikes has already shaped the code of the summit. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has avoided straight addressing the U.S. attacks, adjacent arsenic protests successful The Hague, focused initially connected subject spending, person shifted to denouncing the caller conflict.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
