Why NATO Allies Are Worried About a Second Trump Presidency

Discussions among leaders of NATO countries at their summit in Washington on July 9-11 are likely to be colored by what’s at stake for the alliance in November’s US presidential election. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate, raised alarms about his commitment to NATO when he was president from 2017 to 2021. More recently, he’s suggested he would not in all cases honor Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty, the obligation of members to come to each other’s aid.

Founded in 1949 to protect Europe against attack by the Soviet Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has come to represent a fundamental partnership between North America and Europe based on shared political and economic values. There were 12 original members. Membership grew to 32 nations when Sweden and Finland, which had bet that their national security was best protected by staying out, joined following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.