Donald Trump's NATO comments 'not wise', says Dutch armed forces chief

Donald Trump is not helping NATO's ability to deter Russia by publicly questioning his commitment to the alliance and being rude about his allies, the head of the Dutch armed forces has signalled, calling it "not a wise thing to say".

But General Onno Eichelsheim told Sky News that he still believed the United States would come to the defence of a NATO nation if requested, saying the kind of interactions he has on a military level, including with his US counterpart General Dan Caine, were unchanged.

"If we ask them to help us out, they will do it," the Chief of Defence (CHOD) of the Netherlands said in an interview on the sidelines of the London Defence Conference.

The US president, who has long viewed NATO with disdain because of its over-reliance on US military strength to protect Europe, said in recent days that he is considering pulling out of the alliance, dismissing it as a "paper tiger".

He also said he is "very disappointed" in his allies after he asked for their support in his war against Iran - even though he then said he did not need it - and they stayed away.

Mr Trump even hinted this meant he would no longer be willing to help an ally in distress - undermining a founding principle of the alliance under Article 5 of the NATO treaty that an attack on one member state is an attack on all.

"Why would we be there for them if they're not there for us? They weren't there for us," he said.

Asked whether comments like that were weakening NATO and its ability to deter Vladimir Putin, General Eichelsheim said: "It never helps, because our best deterrence is having an alliance that looks as an alliance.

"But on the other hand, I must say, if I look at my own work that I do, even with Dan Cain or with the Americans, on our CHOD level and on the military level, there is no change in the behaviour of the US.

"I am fully convinced that they will comply to Article 5. If we ask them to help us out, they will do it."

At the same time, he said it was vital for European nations to step up and do more to defend themselves - something Mr Trump has repeatedly requested to ease the burden on the US.

"It is our continent, it's mostly our threat," the Dutch military chief said.

"Russia is also a threat to the Western world and to the US. But it's primarily on our own door. So we have to step up for that as well.

"So, I understand that rhetoric, if you can call it like that, of President Trump. But it is not good to use also rhetoric like, 'Well I am not sure if I will help the nations in NATO'.

"That is, I think, not a wise thing to say."

All NATO allies, under pressure from Washington to do more, agreed at a major summit in The Hague last year to increase spending on core defence to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 and to spend a further 1.5% of GDP on less-well-defined security areas.

But it will take time before European member states and Canada develop the military capabilities and capacity to take on a significant chunk more of the fighting power that the United States armed forces bring to Europe's defences.

General Eichelsheim said he thought it would be between five to 10 years until European allies are able to fulfil the kind of capabilities that the US brings.

Asked what sort of percentage of NATO military power to defend Europe would then be European, he said: "Around 60-70% and that will make sense from my perspective."

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The lag time between European militaries saying they are rearming and actually being ready, created what the general described as a "vulnerability window" between 2028 and 2030 when Russia could attack.

He said for now Mr Putin's forces were too busy fighting in Ukraine to have the capacity to open a new front against NATO. But they only needed 18 months to prepare, should a ceasefire be agreed between Kyiv and Moscow.

Asked how likely he thought it was that the Kremlin might try to exploit NATO's window of vulnerability, the Dutch commander said: "I have to prepare for the worst...

"I am not sure if he will not, somewhere in time, wake up like that, because he is not predictable. He has said too many times that he wants to challenge, so we better listen to that and prepare ourselves for that."

Sky News is the official media partner of the London Defence Conference 2026. Later this year Sky News will launch a new defence & security app, bringing together video-first reporting from our leading journalists and experts.

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