President Obama will meet with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House after wrapping up a nuclear summit in Washington.
Stoltenberg’s visit comes on the heels of Tuesday’s deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, the capital of Belgium, the European Union and home of NATO headquarters. It also comes in the wake of GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump’s criticism of the defense alliance originally created to counter the Soviet Union.
During the April 4 meeting, Obama will “reiterate that the United States stands together with NATO in the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks,” the White House stated.
“The president looks forward to discussing with Secretary General Stoltenberg the progress allies are making in the international effort to degrade and destroy [the Islamic State], as well as the important role NATO is playing in alleviating the refugee and migrant crisis spurred in part by the terrorist group,” the White House stated, using the administration’s preferred acronym for the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
The meeting will take place after the summit aimed at curbing nuclear proliferation, which opens March 31, ends. During the conference, Obama will also meet privately with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Beyond the Islamic State, Obama and Stoltenberg will look ahead to July’s NATO summit, which Warsaw is hosting.
Stoltenberg’s visit “underscores the importance the United States places on the transatlantic bond that NATO embodies, and on a North Atlantic Alliance whose full adaptation to a changing strategic environment will ensure that the Alliance continues to uphold international order and advance the interests of the United States and all of NATO’s members and partners,” the White House stated.
In a wide-ranging interview with the New York Times focused on foreign policy published Saturday, Trump reiterated his claim made before the Brussels bombings that NATO is obsolete.
If he becomes president, he will consider forming a new international organization to combat terrorism, he said.
He also repeated his view that the U.S. carries too much of NATO’s financial burden.
“We will not be ripped off anymore,” Trump said.
