Quotes
I’m not the one that declares a red line or not. I work with the president, as we work through these issues, but we believed that it was useful just to speak some reality into the conversation. Ultimately, President Trump is the only one who’s gonna determine if there’s wiggle room or movement on any particular position."
That’s not a definitive value statement,
I think what I articulated yesterday, in consultation with senior leadership in the White House and the Oval Office of the president, was the reality of the moment — that NATO membership was unlikely considering the realities of where we are. No one’s throwing a stake in the ground for 25 years from now or any defined period of time,
But in these 24 hours, what I have seen, was a tremendous sense of unity and of conversions of use, and maybe not on everything and every detail, but still in Alliance, moving united forward,
Our partners must do far more for Europe's defence. We must make NATO great again, ... President Trump
Hegseth told reporters after the talks in Brussels, warning There is no replacement for hard power,
he said, after warning that Ultimately, we have our own budgetary considerations to be had,
We have to take into account that this is a family,
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told reporters ahead of Thursday’s meeting, referring to the NATO alliance But there is a recognition that the ambitions of the Communist Chinese are a threat to free people everywhere, ... it makes a lot of sense … to use our comparative advantages: European countries spending here in defense of this continent against an aggressor on this continent.”
A majority of European countries do not want to lose face and are still not thinking in terms of the new Trump framework,
said a European official, No decision has been made on troop levels [in Europe], that’s a discussion to be had by the commander in chief,
he added, referring to a planned review of global U.S. military deployment The reason why European leaders are so hurt over Trump is that the U.S. has stopped pretending to see Europe as a meaningful player on geopolitical affairs,
My message will be very clear that in this family, we are standing shoulder to shoulder … protecting and defending ourselves,
We always knew a call would happen soon and teams are consulting each other,
For decades, Europeans, as good USA vassals, required a certain decorum in how they were treated, at least publicly, as if it was an article of the feudal contract,
Pete Hegseth said in Stuttgart that there are no plans to reduce troop levels. At the same time, the U.S. [has been] quite irritated for a long time … that they’re spending more than NATO’s European allies and Canada, so we need to do more,
Secretary Hegseth’s comments, and what later emerged from Washington, were significant statements,
Either we are within the parameters of a discussion that will genuinely bring peace through strength, or, on the contrary, it will be peace through weakness,
It's a crucial moment of truth,
Lecornu told reporters ahead of a NATO meeting in Brussels Two percent of GDP is not enough. Three and four and ultimately, as President Trump has said, five percent of defense spending is critical,
