'Designed to prevent open discord': How NATO leaders Trump-proofed 'shortened' summit
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One to depart to attend the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands, from the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 24, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
During his four years in the White House, former U.S. President Joe Biden was an aggressive supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NAT0). Biden applauded Sweden and Finland's decision to enter the alliance, and he made it clear that he considered NATO crucial to the Unites States from a military/national security standpoint. President Donald Trump, in contrast, has often been highly critical of NATO, accusing some NATO allies of not doing enough for the U.S.
On Tuesday morning, June 24 — a few days after the U.S. carried out three military strikes against Iran — Trump left for the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. And on CNN, host John Berman and his colleague Kevin Liptak discussed the ways in which NATO organizers prepared for Trump's participation.
According to Liptak, the event was "shortened" to accommodate the U.S. president.
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"You know, ordinarily, for the last several years, the centerpiece of these NATO Summits has been Ukraine," Liptak told Berman via the Netherlands. "But in a lot of ways, that has been put on the back burner this year. And the Summit has really been tailored to President Trump specifically. It has been shortened in some ways, really. The bulk of the Summit will only last for tomorrow morning."
Liptak continued, "President Trump will only spend about 24 hours in the Netherlands. The defense spending boost is also a big win for the president. He's been agitating for NATO countries to do that, really going back to his first term. And so, this will all sort of culminate in the Summit tomorrow."
According to Liptak, the format of the 2025 NATO Summit was "designed by the NATO leadership to prevent any sort of open discord from breaking out while the president is here in the Netherlands."
Liptak told Berman, "You know, I was talking to some European officials over the weekend who were wondering whether President Trump would even decide to come here to the Summit. Remember, he skipped out early from the G-7 Summit last week. There had been some concern, as the Middle East was really kind of flaring up, that he would decide not to attend. But he is attending. He's on his way here now."
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Watch the full video below or at this link.
