Mission Statement: to assist the integration of foreign residents living in Spain
By John Smith •
Published: 07 Nov 2024 • 15:12
• 2 minutes read
Having served an almost unprecedented 10 years as head of NATO, Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg is ideally placed to comment on the likely attitude that Donald Trump will display with regards to that organisation.
Former NATO boss tells Norwegians that all should be ok with Trump
In fact he appeared on Norwegian TV on November 7 to give his opinion and to reassure Norwegians over the probable future of NATO once Trump assumes the US Presidency in January 2025.
Stoltenberg always appeared to have a good relationship with Donald Trump, even when NATO was being criticised over the fact that the then President believed that the USA was supporting the organisation financially.
He claimed that each member was required to commit 2 per cent of their GNP towards defence, but Trump argued that this was far from the case.
When you are out of power for four years, things change quite rapidly and the Russian invasion of Ukraine certainly saw the defence purse strings being released by NATO members and now most have met the target.
Stoltenberg expects Trump to try to reduce US contributions to NATO
Stoltenberg suggested that Trump will still try to reduce the financial burden on the USA but despite the reported closeness between Putin and Trump, he believes that the US will continue to be “a strong NATO ally.”
A charming and clever politician, Stoltenberg explained that his “working relationship” with Trump during his first term as US president “focused on bolstering trans-Atlantic security and adapting NATO for the future. In a world of growing instability, strong US leadership remains essential.”
Having congratulated Trump on his victory, Stoltenberg received a response thanking him for his support as NATO celebrated 75 years.
New NATO boss needs to get close to Trump quickly
This is all opinion from the former NATO boss but much will depend on how quickly his successor, former Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte can forge a working relationship with the president and then time will tell which way NATO is headed.
One positive note is that Rutte is known for wanting to see China restrict its activities, so should find support from Trump in this one particular area which in turn may be the basis for the building of a strong and positive ongoing relationship.
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Married to Ophelia in Gibraltar in 1978, John has spent much of his life travelling on security print and minting business and visited every continent except Antarctica.
Having retired several years ago, the couple moved to their house in Estepona and John became a regular news writer for the EWN Media Group taking particular interest in Finance, Gibraltar and Costa del Sol Social Scene.
Currently he is acting as Editorial Consultant for the paper helping to shape its future development.
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