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NATO Leaders Make the Pitch for the U.S. to Stay as Trump Looms Large Over the Summit

Everyone wants to know what will happen if Trump is elected president in November.

Donald Trump
Donal Trump recently said he would not defend members of the alliance who do not meet spending targets. Susan Walsh/AP

For most of the first day of the NATO summit, heads of state avoided commenting on domestic politics in the United States.

But in the final briefing to the press on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg couldn’t avoid the question any longer: What happens if Donald Trump, who has openly criticized NATO, gets elected?

“I expected the United States to remain a staunch and, of course, important NATO ally,” Stoltenberg told reporters.