00:00NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutter is meeting U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House
00:04ahead of a crucial NATO summit in Ankara next month.
00:08The talks come amid growing tensions within the alliance over the Iran conflict,
00:13U.S. military commitments in Europe and defense spending.
00:18Trump has repeatedly accused European allies of relying too heavily on American military power
00:24and failing to carry the share of the burden.
00:26Those divisions have deepened after several NATO members refused to back Washington's military campaign against Iran,
00:34raising questions about the future of U.S. engagement in the alliance.
00:38U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hexeth last week announced a review of American troop deployments in Europe
00:44after Washington decided to scale back some of the military capabilities it makes available to NATO in a crisis.
00:50Rutter's visit comes ahead of the July 8th summit where allies are expected to focus on defense spending,
00:57military readiness and continued support for Ukraine.
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