Officials from NATO countries are enjoying an extra perk of this year’s summit in Washington: easier access to members of Donald Trump’s inner circle.
They have fanned out around town to meet with Trump confidants and get a sense of the Republican’s thinking. They’ve sat for breakfasts and dinners with Richard Grenell, who is often talked about as a potential secretary of State pick. And they’ve held meetings with former top national security advisers including retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg or John Bolton, about European security.
“Everyone keeps asking us if we’re meeting with Trump people,” said an exhausted senior European diplomat, one of seven European, NATO and former U.S. officials who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about a potential new administration. “The answer is ‘Of course we are.’ We all are. We’ve been doing it for years. But the proximity this week is helpful.”
A former Trump official who is informally engaged with the campaign said that while he has been meeting with Europeans about the businessman’s worldview for years, “it’s been more intensive over the last four weeks. There’s immense interest in what his thinking on NATO might be.”
So far, Trump has said he might let Russia do “whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that don’t spend enough on their defense and claimed, without providing a plan, that he could end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine within weeks of his reelection. But there are still lots of questions about what policies he would actually enact in office.
The most high-profile meeting will come Thursday when Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s prime minister and a very public Trump backer travels to Mar-a-Lago in South Florida after the NATO summit wraps to chat with the former president.
Other foreign emissaries both allied to Trump and fearful of his administration are likely to descend on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee next week. D.C.-based ambassadors are invited to both party conventions, but many European representatives have already booked their flights and hotel rooms in Wisconsin.
While foreign governments have always kept in touch with potential administrations in waiting, the sense of duty is paired with a sense of panic this year. In many NATO countries, there is a genuine concerns about what a second Trump term might mean for the alliance’s unity and Ukraine’s defense. Having conversations early and often helps with European countries’ planning and preparations for what’s to come.
Asked for comment, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt reiterated a talking point his team has been using for weeks: “When President Trump returns to the Oval Office, he will restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage.”