President Donald Trump is drawing up a NATO naughty list, according to officials on both sides of the Atlantic.
The alliance’s boss, Mark Rutte, is on his way to Washington, D.C., later this month, but a U.S. defense official and three European diplomats have now told Politico that he will be greeted by a new ranking system for member states.
Trump’s war with Iran has had poor uptake from members of the alliance, which shares a pact of mutual defense if one constituent is attacked. In the eyes of most European capitals, however, D.C.’s bombing raids in the Middle East didn’t meet the criteria.
The new system will put those allies into a three-tiered system, according to the sources, depending on how well Trump thinks they are contributing to the alliance.
“The White House has a naughty and nice paper so I guess the thinking is similar,” one of the sources said.
What the list will include and what the positive and negative consequences might be for those on it has not been made clear, according to the Politico report.
Speaking anonymously, one of the European officials said, “They don’t seem to have very concrete ideas… when it comes to punishing bad allies.
“Moving troops is one option, but it mainly punishes the U.S. doesn’t it?”
It comes despite a Reuters/Ipsos poll released Tuesday suggesting only 16 percent of Americans would support the U.S. pulling out of NATO.
Tensions with NATO first spiked after Trump expressed his interest in taking control of Greenland, a territory of member state Denmark.
Since then, threats against historic partners, including France, the U.K., and Spain, have been persistent, as Trump and his allies dangle the possibility of severing ties over their heads.
“Model allies that step up, like Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany, the Baltics and others, will receive our special favor,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in December. “Allies that still fail to do their part for collective defense will face consequences.”
Trump has followed a similar line himself, writing on Truth Social in April, “NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN.”
Meanwhile, the White House has stuck to the script, with spokesperson Anna Kelly telling Politico, “While the United States has always been there for our so-called allies, countries we protect with thousands of troops have not been there for us throughout Operation Epic Fury.
“President Trump has made his thoughts on this unfair dynamic clear, and as he said, the United States will remember.”
The Daily Beast has contacted NATO and the White House for comment.
