‘Trump-proof’ Nato? As Biden falters, Europeans look to safeguard military alliance

There will be an elephant in the room when Nato leaders gather in Washington this week: Donald Trump

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Then US president Donald Trump in 2019. File photo: AP

Published: 12:56am, 8 Jul 2024Updated: 10:49am, 8 Jul 2024

Growing scepticism about US President Joe Biden’s re-election chances has European leaders heading to the Nato summit in Washington confronting the prospect that the military alliance’s most prominent critic, Donald Trump, may return to power over its mightiest military.

Nato – made up of 32 European and North American allies committed to defending each other from armed attack – will stress strength through solidarity as it celebrates its 75th anniversary during the summit starting on Tuesday.

Event host Biden, who pulled allies into a global network to help Ukraine fight off Russia’s invasion, has called the alliance the most unified it has ever been.

But behind the scenes, a dominant topic will be preparing for possible division, as the power of far-right forces unfriendly to Nato grows in the United States and other countries including France, raising concerns about how strong support will stay for the alliance and the military aid that its members send to Ukraine.

At the presidential debate, Biden asked Trump: “You’re going to stay in Nato or you’re going to pull out of Nato?” Trump tilted his head in a shrug.

US President Joe Biden and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a Nato summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2023. File photo: AP

Biden’s poor debate performance set off a frenzy about whether the 81-year-old president is fit for office or should step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate.