NATO Chief Did not Say If Trump 'Surrenders Ukraine to Putin', US Will Be 'Expelled' From Alliance

Days after President-elect Donald Trump’s 2024 election win, a quote purportedly by North Atlantic Treaty Group (NATO) chief Mark Rutte about America’s place on Russia’s struggle in Ukraine unfold on social media. In accordance with the posts, the secretary-general stated in response to Trump’s victory, “If Trump surrenders Ukraine to Putin, I’ll personally expel america from the alliance.”

(X consumer @JDunlap1974)

The quote, which circulated with none credible sources to substantiate it, spread broadly on X and Russian Telegram channels.

Nonetheless, there was no actual proof of Rutte making the assertion, which might have generated information headlines if he had truly stated it. The quote was fabricated. A NATO spokesperson stated the declare was “bogus.”

As secretary-general, Rutte doesn’t have the authority to “personally expel” a rustic from the alliance. Whereas he leads the alliance, in keeping with NATO’s website, “authority for taking choices is invested solely within the member governments themselves.” 

Moreover, the alleged quote didn’t align with actual public feedback by Rutte about Trump’s 2024 presidential win. On Nov. 6, Rutte released a press release congratulating him and Vice President-elect JD Vance and praising Trump’s previous management:

I congratulate Donald Trump on his election as President of america.

I stay up for working with him once more to advance peace by energy by NATO.

By NATO, the US has 31 buddies and Allies who assist to advance US pursuits, multiply American energy and hold Individuals secure.

Collectively, NATO Allies signify half of the world’s financial may and half of the world’s army may.

We face a rising variety of challenges globally, from a extra aggressive Russia, to terrorism, to strategic competitors with China, as properly the rising alignment of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

Working collectively by NATO helps to discourage aggression, defend our collective safety, and help our economies.

President-elect Trump demonstrated sturdy U.S. management all through his first time period in workplace – a time period that turned the tide on European defence spending, improved transatlantic burden sharing, and strengthened Alliance capabilities.

Rutte additionally posted on X that day, “I simply congratulated @realDonaldTrump on his election as President of america. His management will once more be key to holding our Alliance sturdy. I stay up for working with him once more to advance peace by energy by #NATO.”

The subsequent day, Nov. 7, Rutte mentioned with journalists the future challenges for the alliance in the case of Russia’s struggle in Ukraine, equivalent to North Korean troopers being deployed in Russia. A portion of the dialog, which is obtainable on the NATO website, reads:

To start with, after all, I wish to congratulate once more, President Trump, upon his re-election. It was actually an enormous success for him, together with capturing the Home and the Senate. I stay up for work with him once more. When he was president he was the one in NATO who stimulated us to maneuver over the two% and now additionally due to him, in NATO, should you take out the numbers of the US for a second, is above the two% and I feel very a lot that’s his doing, his success, and we have to do extra. We all know this at the moment.

As we speak on my thoughts on this assembly is what is going on now with North Koreans being deployed in Russia. And what we see increasingly is that North Korea, Iran, China and naturally, Russia are working collectively, working collectively towards Ukraine, however on the similar time, Russia has to pay for this, and one of many issues they’re doing is delivering expertise to North Korea, which is now threatening the longer term the mainland of the US, continental Europe, but additionally our companions in Indo, Pacific, Japan, for instance, and Republic of Korea. So these are actually harmful new developments, and we have to focus on that at the moment.

However I additionally stay up for sit down with President Trump and to navigate how collectively we’ll guarantee that we face this menace and that we hold our a part of the world secure.

In different phrases, Rutte stated he appears to be like ahead to working with Trump, whereas drawing consideration to what he perceives to be the hazard of North Korean and Iranian army help for Russia. Rutte additionally underlined NATO’s continued help for Ukraine. 

Throughout his presidential marketing campaign, Trump repeatedly claimed he might shortly finish the struggle in Ukraine however didn’t supply particulars on how, The Related Press reported. He has additionally been critical of the quantity of help america has despatched to the nation, and at one level, he blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “I really feel very badly for these individuals [in Ukraine]. However he ought to by no means have let that struggle begin. That struggle is a loser,” he stated on a conservative podcast in October 2024.

Trump has additionally repeatedly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout marketing campaign rallies, speeches and interviews. Days after Trump’s victory, The Washington Submit cited nameless sources to report that Trump had supposedly instructed Putin to not escalate the struggle in Ukraine. Nonetheless, in keeping with The Related Press, the Kremlin referred to as the Submit’s report “fiction,” and Trump’s representatives stated, “We don’t touch upon non-public calls between President Trump and different world leaders.”