The Atlantic Alliance is meeting in Washington after 75 years of existence for a summit intended to confirm its support for Ukraine, but dominated by the climate of political uncertainty in the United States.
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The meeting is supposed to celebrate an anniversary: the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance. But the NATO summit that opens Tuesday, July 9 in Washington is being held in the presence of two presidents who are weakened domestically. Emmanuel Macron must thus arrive in the United States after legislative elections that will force him to deal with a new National Assembly.
And the host, Joe Biden, in the middle of a presidential campaign, has been pushed out by part of his camp, since his failed debate against Donald Trump. The Republican candidate is now in the frontrunner position for the November election and his possible re-election hangs over this NATO summit, with this question: what if the Atlantic Alliance were living its last hours?
It must be said that Donald Trump is not an “Atlanticist”, like Joe Biden. He has spoken out on NATO several times in recent months, and each time in a negative manner, as Tara Varma, a visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution, an American think tank, points out: “One of his controversial statements was in early 2024. At a political rally in the southern United States, Donald Trump said he would encourage Vladimir Putin to do what he wanted to countries that did not contribute 2% of their GDP in defense spending, which is a commitment the Allies made 10 years ago.” she emphasizes.
A statement that destabilizes European security, according to Tara Varma. “It also really calls into question the credibility of the Alliance and the credibility vis-à-vis Putin that the United States and NATO would defend the Europeans if they were attacked, judges the researcher. The very fact that he is calling that credibility into question is dangerous in itself and it weakens the Alliance. He will not need to withdraw his ambassador or divest him completely, his strength already calls into question the strength and credibility of the Alliance.”
Donald Trump nevertheless presents himself as the “president of peace“: he notably promises to bring together Vladimir Putin and Volodimyr Zelensky at the White House, just 24 hours after his inauguration in January 2025, and thus put an end to three years of war.
