NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte arrived in Washington on a critical three-day visit aimed at convincing President Donald Trump to maintain American membership in the Alliance.

The meeting with Trump at the White House is scheduled for Wednesday and will also include Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

A key point of tension is the refusal of European allies to join the American-Israeli military campaign against Iran or to allow US aircraft access to their airspace. This decision angered Trump and led him to question the value of NATO.

Trump previously stated that the Alliance without America would be a "paper tiger".

Former US Ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker, noted that Rutte faces a delicate balancing act between Trump and European allies such as Germany, Finland, Spain, and France, which have publicly criticized the military operation.