Donald Trump improvised Nato speech and shocked national security team by removing Article 5 support

The president blindsided top advisers with his speech, sources say

President Donald Trump delivers a speech during the unveiling ceremony of the Berlin Wall monument at a recent Nato summit (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

When Donald Trump failed to mention Article 5 – the Nato provision that binds all member countries to each other's defence – in his recent speech at the alliance’s new headquarters, world leaders were shocked.

They weren’t the only ones.

Key members of Mr Trump’s national security team, including national security adviser HR McMaster, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, all believed he would endorse the article.

It wasn’t until Mr Trump finished delivering his address that they realised he had left the endorsement out.

“They had the right speech and it was cleared through McMaster,” a source briefed by National Security Council officials told Politico. “As late as that same morning, it was the right one.”

Speaking at the dedication for a Nato monument to September 11, Mr Trump instead chose to chide member states for letting in refugees and not paying their “fair share” toward defence. September 11 is the only time Article 5 has ever been invoked, in defence of the United States.

The speech did not go over well with world leaders. Several were caught on camera looking perturbed, and even whispering to one another. Only Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of NATO, spoke to Mr Trump at a following photo op.

Mr Trump’s advisers – likely predicting this reception – had been pushing for him to endorse Article 5 for days, according to Politico. The day before the speech, an unnamed official even told The New York Times that Mr Trump planned to do so.

In the days following the speech, administration officials continued to reaffirm their commitment to the provision.

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters at a gaggle that the president is “fully committed” to Article 5. Speaking at an American Jewish Committee forum. Mr McMaster championed America's “unbreakable commitment to our NATO allies”.

“Of course we believe in Article 5,” United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley told CNN’s State of the Union.

Mr Trump, however, has made no such promises. He frequently condemned Nato on the campaign trail, calling it “obsolete”. While he has walked back some of these statements since taking office, he has yet to explicitly endorse Article 5.

The reason Mr Trump made last-minute edits to his Nato speech remains unclear. Some people close to the situation believe he made the changes on the fly; others believe they were made on advisement from Steve Bannon and Steve Miller.

Either way, the omission made its mark.

“The times in which we could rely fully on others are somewhat over,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel told supporters after the summit. “We have to know that we must fight for our future on our own, for our destiny as Europeans.”