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Live Updates: Trump Is in Brussels, and NATO Officials Are Anxious Live Updates: Trump Is in Brussels, and Disagreement on Russia Emerges
(35 minutes later)
• President Trump is in Brussels on Thursday for the fourth leg of a grueling overseas trip. He met with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. • On the fourth leg of a grueling overseas trip, President Trump met with Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission.
• He will meet with other European leaders, and analysts say anxiety is high but expectations are low. It is his first visit to the Belgian capital — headquarters of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — since calling it a “hellhole.” • Mr. Tusk said that there were differences of opinion over Russia, but that when it came to Ukraine, “it seems that we were on the same line.”
• In the wake of Mr. Trump’s criticism that the alliance should do more against terrorism, NATO announced that it would formally join the fight against the Islamic State. • Mr. Trump will also meet with other European leaders, and analysts said anxiety was high but expectations low. It is Mr. Trump’s first visit to the Belgian capital — headquarters of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — since he called the city a “hellhole.”
• After Mr. Trump urged the alliance to do more against terrorism, NATO announced that it would formally join the fight against the Islamic State.
• European leaders’ main hope is that Mr. Trump will explicitly endorse Article 5 of the Atlantic alliance’s founding treaty, which states the principle that an attack on any member is an attack on all.• European leaders’ main hope is that Mr. Trump will explicitly endorse Article 5 of the Atlantic alliance’s founding treaty, which states the principle that an attack on any member is an attack on all.
• Mr. Trump’s arrival on Wednesday was greeted by thousands of protesters, and activists unfurled a sign saying “Resist” near the United States Embassy. If there is any real drama in Mr. Trump’s visit, besides wondering if he will go off script, it will be his comments when he unveils a 9/11 memorial — a piece of twisted metal from the World Trade Center — outside NATO’s new building.
If there’s any real drama in Mr. Trump’s visit, besides wondering if he will go off script, it will be his comments when he unveils a 9/11 memorial — a piece of twisted metal from the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks — outside NATO’s new building. (Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will unveil a chunk of the Berlin Wall, which came down in 1989, to symbolize how the alliance kept the peace during the Cold War. Potentially awkward: Before her planned meeting with Mr. Trump, Mrs. Merkel met with former President Barack Obama in Berlin, as Germany marks the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.)
(Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany will unveil a chunk of the Berlin Wall, which came down in 1989, to symbolize how the alliance kept the peace during the Cold War. Potentially awkward: Mrs. Merkel will meet former President Barack Obama before seeing Mr. Trump.) While Mr. Trump appears to have decided that the alliance isn’t really obsolete, as he once said, he has never publicly committed to Article 5. He is expected to finally do so on Thursday, White House officials said, since the only time NATO has ever invoked Article 5 was to defend the United States after the Sept. 11 attacks.
While Mr. Trump has decided that the alliance isn’t really obsolete, as he once said, he has never publicly committed to Article 5. He is expected to finally do so on Thursday, White House officials said, since the only time NATO has ever invoked Article 5 was to defend the United States after the 9/11 attacks. More than 1,000 non-American soldiers from NATO countries have died in Afghanistan in the name of Article 5. NATO officials will not breathe easy until Mr. Trump actually utters the words. Of course, the leaders would also like him to say something critical about Russia and its annexation of Crimea, but Mr. Trump has been pretty quiet on that topic, too.
But one never knows what Mr. Trump will say, and NATO officials will not breathe easy until he actually utters the words. Of course, the leaders would also like him to say something critical about Russia and its annexation of Crimea, but Mr. Trump has been pretty quiet on that topic, too.
What he has been vocal about is pressing NATO allies to pay what he considers their fair share of the alliance’s running costs. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, traveling with Mr. Trump to Brussels, said the president would have blunt words for the leaders of other NATO nations on that issue.What he has been vocal about is pressing NATO allies to pay what he considers their fair share of the alliance’s running costs. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, traveling with Mr. Trump to Brussels, said the president would have blunt words for the leaders of other NATO nations on that issue.
—Steven Erlanger—Steven Erlanger
The Atlantic alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, announced that NATO would join the global coalition that is fighting Islamic State militants, another gesture toward Mr. Trump. When Mr. Tusk emerged from a meeting with Mr. Trump and Mr. Juncker, there were clear signs that they had differences of opinion over Russia.
“This will send a strong political message of NATO’s commitment to the fight against terrorism,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. But a message is what it mostly was. The United States, after all, formed the coalition, which it leads and runs out of its military headquarters, without major NATO input, though numerous member nations are also part of the coalition fighting the Islamic State. “Some issues remained open like climate and trade,” Mr. Tusk told reporters shortly after the meeting at European Union headquarters here. “And I am not 100 percent sure that we can say today — we means Mr. President and myself — that we have a common position, common opinion, about Russia,” Mr. Tusk added.
NATO has had a small mission in Iraq to train soldiers there and will enhance it, but will much change now that it has agreed to formally join the coalition? Probably not. Mr. Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, did say that “when it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, it seems that we were on the same line.”
—Steven Erlanger The leaders also found agreement on counterterrorism. “I’m sure that I don’t have to explain why,” said Mr. Tusk, in an apparent reference to the terrorist attack in Manchester, England.
Mr. Trump’s formal introduction to the complexities of the European Union began on Thursday with a cordial handshake and a walk through a forest of flags. Mr. Trump’s formal introduction to the complexities of the European Union began on Thursday with a cordial handshake a walk through a forest of flags.
Met by Mr. Tusk, the president of the European Council, the American president was guided along a red carpet through the union’s newly reconstructed headquarters, where each of the 28 member states flies its national flag. (Britain, of course, is negotiating its divorce from the bloc.) The American president was guided along a red carpet through the newly completed headquarters of the bloc, where each of the 28 member states flies its national flag. (Britain, of course, is negotiating its divorce from the bloc.)
The building, called the Europa, is meant to represent a fresh start for the Union, an organization that Mr. Trump has called into question with his support for Britain’s decision to leave and for populist critics of the bloc like Marine Le Pen, the French leader of the far-right National Front. The building, called the Europa, is meant to represent a fresh start for the Union, the organization that Mr. Trump has called into question with his support for Britain’s decision to leave and for populist Eurosceptics like Marine Le Pen, the French leader of the far-right National Front.
Mr. Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and a staunch defender of democracy and openness, met with Mr. Trump and Mr. Juncker for about an hour. Mr. Tusk, a staunch defender of democracy and openness, met with Mr. Trump and Mr. Juncker for about an hour.
“You know, Mr. President, we have two presidents in the E.U.,” Mr. Tusk said.“You know, Mr. President, we have two presidents in the E.U.,” Mr. Tusk said.
“I know that,” Mr. Trump replied.“I know that,” Mr. Trump replied.
“There is one too much,” Mr. Juncker said, jokingly, according to The Associated Press.“There is one too much,” Mr. Juncker said, jokingly, according to The Associated Press.
Mr. Tusk, who warned this year that Mr. Trump was threatening Europe’s stability, made his priorities for the meeting clear at a prize-giving ceremony the previous evening. It was, Mr. Tusk told his audience, “important to keep our relations with the United States as close as possible and as long as possible — at least for as long as this value remains a priority also on the other side of the Atlantic.”Mr. Tusk, who warned this year that Mr. Trump was threatening Europe’s stability, made his priorities for the meeting clear at a prize-giving ceremony the previous evening. It was, Mr. Tusk told his audience, “important to keep our relations with the United States as close as possible and as long as possible — at least for as long as this value remains a priority also on the other side of the Atlantic.”
Mr. Tusk said he would try to convince Mr. Trump “that Euro-Atlantism is primarily cooperation of the free for the sake of freedom; that if we want to prevent the scenario that has already been named by our opponents not so long ago in Munich as the ‘post-West world order,’ we should watch over our legacy of freedom together.”
Mr. Trump then headed to the Belgian residence of the United States ambassador, where he was to have a working lunch with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
—James Kanter—James Kanter
Amid the pomp and ceremony, however, ordinary Belgians gave Mr. Trump a chilly reception. But if Mr. Trump’s European hosts hoped that his visit to Brussels would thaw the ice left over from the dismissive comments he made about the European project during the 2016 campaign, the atmosphere before the morning meeting suggested the trans-Atlantic tensions hadn’t entirely vanished.
As they waited for Mr. Trump and Mr. Tusk, the American and European delegations did not say a word to each another, clustering in groups on the opposite sides of a rectangular conference table.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis chatted with Gary D. Cohn, the director of the national economic council, and Dina Powell, a deputy national security adviser. Across the table, the European Union’s high representative, Federica Mogherini, huddled with her aides.
When Mr. Tusk arrived with the president, he spoke of how important a day this was for the European-American relationship. Mr. Trump said, “Thank you very much,” but was otherwise silent, as he gazed at a forest of cameras and boom mikes arrayed at one end of the room.
After the meeting, Mr. Trump headed to the Belgian residence of the United States ambassador, where he was set to have a working lunch with President Emmanuel Macron of France.
—Mark Landler
The announcement by the Atlantic alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, was another gesture toward Mr. Trump.
“This will send a strong political message of NATO’s commitment to the fight against terrorism,” Mr. Stoltenberg said. But a message is what it mostly was. The United States, after all, formed the coalition, which it leads and runs out of its military headquarters, without major NATO input, though numerous member nations are also part of the coalition fighting the Islamic State.
NATO has had a small mission in Iraq to train soldiers there and will enhance it, but will much change now that it has agreed to formally join the coalition? Probably not.
—Steven Erlanger
Amid the pomp and ceremony, however, ordinary Belgians had given Mr. Trump a rather chilly reception.
Thousands marched on Wednesday to protest his presence, carrying signs that read “Solidarity with the women of the whole world,” “No ban, no wall” and “Trump go away.” At one point, #TrumpNotWelcome was the No. 1 trending hashtag on Twitter in Belgium.Thousands marched on Wednesday to protest his presence, carrying signs that read “Solidarity with the women of the whole world,” “No ban, no wall” and “Trump go away.” At one point, #TrumpNotWelcome was the No. 1 trending hashtag on Twitter in Belgium.
Five Greenpeace activists climbed a crane to hoist a sign saying “Resist” near the American Embassy.Five Greenpeace activists climbed a crane to hoist a sign saying “Resist” near the American Embassy.
And the Ancienne Belgique concert hall put up a sign that said, “Don’t duck for Donald.”And the Ancienne Belgique concert hall put up a sign that said, “Don’t duck for Donald.”
—Claire Barthelemy—Claire Barthelemy
Ahead of the NATO meeting, Mr. Trump met the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, on Wednesday and spoke at a news conference in which he denounced those who were behind the bombing attack in Manchester, England, that left 22 people dead, including children, and about 60 others injured.
Simply put: More Mike Pence.Simply put: More Mike Pence.
Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said at a news conference on Wednesday that she would welcome the same “message of continuity” about trans-Atlantic cooperation that Vice President Pence brought by visiting Brussels in February, soon after Mr. Trump took office. Ms. Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said at a news conference on Wednesday that she would welcome the same “message of continuity” about trans-Atlantic cooperation that Vice President Pence brought by visiting Brussels in February, soon after Mr. Trump took office.
Mr. Pence’s visit was “a clear sign” of “willingness to work together,” Ms. Mogherini said.Mr. Pence’s visit was “a clear sign” of “willingness to work together,” Ms. Mogherini said.
Her comments represent a widely held hope in Brussels that Mr. Trump will avoid bashing the European project in favor of constructive dialogue on global challenges.Her comments represent a widely held hope in Brussels that Mr. Trump will avoid bashing the European project in favor of constructive dialogue on global challenges.
Ms. Mogherini, accompanied by Antonio Tajani, the president of the European Parliament, will attend a meeting on Thursday morning along with Mr. Trump, Mr. Tusk and Mr. Juncker.
Ms. Mogherini said she wanted Mr. Trump to discuss carrying out the Paris agreement on climate change, which in the past he has previously threatened to abandon, and investing in multilateral organizations like the United Nations, where the Trump administration wants further funding cuts.Ms. Mogherini said she wanted Mr. Trump to discuss carrying out the Paris agreement on climate change, which in the past he has previously threatened to abandon, and investing in multilateral organizations like the United Nations, where the Trump administration wants further funding cuts.
Even if the Trump administration was set on revising American policies, Ms. Mogherini said, it was important to have “an open and constructive dialogue.”Even if the Trump administration was set on revising American policies, Ms. Mogherini said, it was important to have “an open and constructive dialogue.”
—James Kanter—James Kanter
Ahead of the NATO meeting, Mr. Trump met the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, on Wednesday and spoke at a news conference in which he denounced those who were behind the bombing attack in Manchester, England, that left 22 people dead, including children, and about 60 others injured.