Next week's NATO summit in The Hague will be brief compared to past events, with organizers reportedly tailoring the agenda to President Donald Trump's limited focus .
Typically structured around multiple long strategy sessions, this year's gathering has been slimmed down to a single 2.5-hour meeting. The summit communiqué, which often runs dozens of paragraphs, will reportedly fit on one sheet of A4 paper—just five paragraphs long.
"It is about keeping the summit focused, short and sweet," an NATO diplomat told The Times anonymously. "Trump can be impatient and has said it himself—[he has] a short attention span. The shorter the better."
Behind the scenes, officials are determined to avoid the kind of diplomatic blowups that have followed previous summits, where Trump has stormed out early or lashed out on social media. "Will there be a late night or early morning Truth Social bombshell if he has a summit snit?" one alliance diplomat mused.
Trump's impatience was on display this week when he departed the G7 summit a day early, despite reports that that the agenda was similarly tailored with the goal of capturing Trump's engagement. Time normally dedicated to group sessions was cleared for one-on-ones, and brief written statements replaced a longer summit communique.
The NATO summit will have a laser-tight focus on a single goal: getting members to commit to a new defense spending target.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the former Dutch prime minister, is aiming for defense spending at 5% of GDP — 3.5% in core military spending and 1.5% in broader defense-related budgets. The target date remains under debate, with the U.S. calling for 2032, while U.K. Labour leader Keir Starmer prefers a less aggressive rollout by 2035.
The spending pledge is expected to be framed as a personal victory for Trump, who has long blasted allies for failing to pay their share for collective defense.
Trump will not hold a press conference with Rutte—a departure from tradition that further signals the alliance's desire to keep the event as tightly controlled and drama-free as possible.
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