Francois Lenoir/Reuters
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Friday he is “absolutely confident” that President-elect Donald Trump will maintain the United States’ role in the international organization, despite Trump’s past suggestions that he would pull back from the commitment if other countries did not bear more of the financial burden. “I am absolutely confident that President Trump will maintain American leadership in the alliance and will maintain a strong commitment to European security,” he said at a think-tank event in Brussels. Stoltenberg acknowledged, though, that European nations need to “increase [their] defense spending,” describing it as his “main priority” as secretary general. President Obama expressed a similar level of confidence that Trump would remain committed to NATO, just days after Stoltenberg warned Trump against “go[ing] it alone” when confronting global challenges.