NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg with then-U.S. President Donald Trump in Brussels in 2018. Stoltenberg says the Netflix series “The Crown” helped him gain perspective in working with Trump, who at times questioned whether NATO was still necessary. (NATO)
STUTTGART, Germany — He was dubbed the “Trump whisperer” by many NATO observers for his ability to hold the alliance together during a time when angst over the security pact’s future was riding high.
Now, as Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg nears the end of his nine-year tenure as the alliance’s top official, the former Norwegian prime minister said the Netflix series “The Crown” gave him the perspective to get through those tense Trump years.
“I learned a lot and I used it,” Stoltenberg said Thursday during a discussion at an event hosted in Brussels by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.
Stoltenberg singled out lessons from “The Crown” when asked what advice he would give to his successor should former President Donald Trump succeed in his bid for a return to the White House.
Stoltenberg said he drew inspiration from episodes that dealt with the Suez Crisis of 1956, which caused political upheaval among the U.S., France and the United Kingdom.
At the time, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was furious with the British and French for their intervention in the crisis, which revolved around a conflict between Israel and Egypt that saw French and British forces join the fray on the side of Israel. Eisenhower threatened sanctions on the allies over the matter.
A decade later, other disputes between Washington and Paris led France’s withdrawal from NATO’s command structure, resulting in the alliance’s headquarters relocating from Paris to Brussels.
Stoltenberg said his takeaway from “The Crown” was allies had been through tough times before, stretching from the Suez Crisis to the U.S. war in Iraq decades later, which was opposed fiercely by many members.
“But NATO survived. … So I'm saying this just because it has happened before, it will certainly happen again, that there are disagreements in NATO,” he said.
Stoltenberg’s advice to his replacement: “Make sure that we stay together, that the main task, the most important thing … is to keep this family together. And of course, that's not (always) easy.”
During his presidency, Trump made NATO a focal point for delivering attacks on various allies, whom he accused of failing to invest sufficiently in their own defense.
Past presidents had similar complaints, but Trump’s caustic remarks and viewpoint set him apart.
Rather than seeing NATO as a linchpin alliance focused on the collective territorial defense of its members — the conventional view voiced by his predecessors — Trump frequently questioned whether NATO’s existence was still a necessity.
At the time, speculation swirled that Trump’s aim was to pull the U.S. out of NATO, a sentiment his critics likely will worry about again should he return for a second term.
Public opinion of NATO in most member countries, including the U.S., has since grown more positive in light of Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
Regarding Trump, Stoltenberg had this to say:
“My message to President Trump, as it has been to all other allies who disagree or have different views, is that OK, (this is) serious stuff, be it climate change or the Iran nuclear deal or the Suez Crisis.
“Whatever it has been or will be, just make sure that you understand that even for the United States, it is very good to have friends and allies.”
