

Mint Explainer | How Trump’s Greenland gambit put Nato on the brink
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. US President Donald Trump’s speech at Davos was meant to be a bellwether for the trans-Atlantic relationship, particularly Nato, with his handling of Greenland closely watched. After the speech, it appears Nato has survived, but barely.
Mint examines the implications. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato) was created in 1949 as a bulwark against Soviet expansion and the spread of communism. It had 12 founding members: the US, Canada, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, Nato expanded steadily, with Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024) among its latest members, prompted by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The key clause in the Washington Treaty that founded Nato is Article 5 that says “an armed attack against one or more…shall be considered an attack against them all." This clause was invoked after the 2001 September 11 attacks, leading to a multinational military presence in Afghanistan under the US-led global war on terrorism. Trump has long shown disdain for multilateralism.
His main complaint with Nato, however, is financial: the US shoulders most of the cost of European security, while other members contribute relatively little. During his first term, Trump demanded Nato members raise defence spending to 2% of GDP; in his second term, he is pushing for 5%. In Davos, he complained that the US gains little from Nato beyond protecting Europe from Russia.
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