NATO leaders sought to project confidence that the US will defend allies after President Donald Trump fueled doubts about his administration’s continued commitment to crucial collective obligations.

Heading into the high-stakes summit in The Hague on Wednesday, Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters he was convinced that the US is “totally committed” to Article 5, which states that an attack on one of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization members is an attack on all. Trump said on Tuesday aboard Air Force One that his commitment to NATO’s key tenet was open to interpretation.

The former Dutch prime minister has been fighting to stop the summit from spinning out of control and has repeatedly sought to flatter Trump for getting allies to spend more on their security. He described the president’s mood at the dinner that the Dutch king hosted on Tuesday night as “excellent.”

NATO Leaders over Trump commitment

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who played golf with Trump in Florida for several hour earlier this year, also pushed back against criticism that the US president was questioning his country’s commitment to NATO’s mutual defense. “I don’t think President Trump is relativizing Article 5 and golf is a good way to discuss business.”

Rutte has geared the whole summit toward securing a renewed commitment from Trump and to achieve that, he pushed member states to meet the president’s demand that they increase defense budgets to 5% of GDP. The two-day event was carefully choreographed to minimize the chance of anything annoying the US leader.

Trump appeared in good spirits, posting on Truth Social ahead of a day filled with NATO discussions that he had a great breakfast with the Dutch King and Queen. “The day begins in the beautiful Netherlands,” the US president wrote. “Now it’s off to the very important NATO Meetings. The USA will be very well represented!”

With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf and Suzanne Lynch.

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