Trump’s Nato threats make a fool out of Mark Rutte

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Donald Trump has told the Telegraph he’s “strongly considering” pulling the US out of Nato. The subtext is that the defensive alliance has so far refused to join his offence against Iran. Will this be the moment that Mark Rutte, the secretary-general, changes his tune? Rutte has become known for his flattery of the president. But his public support for the US war in the Middle East is increasingly untenable when this view is not shared by the entire alliance. Even with members pledging to spend 5% of GDP on defence, the danger is that Nato looks disunited when it needs to be strong. Keir Starmer, who described Trump’s threat as “noise”, announced yesterday that Britain should seek closer ties with Europe. Labour likes to think it won’t need to choose between the US and its Nato allies on the continent. Sooner rather than later, it may have to.