A former senior NATO commander is drawing headlines after claiming President Donald Trump poses a greater threat to the Western alliance than Russian President Vladimir Putin—a charge the White House has forcefully rejected and that many U.S. conservatives say ignores key facts about NATO’s recent history.
In an interview with The Independent, General Sir Richard Shirreff, NATO’s former deputy supreme allied commander for Europe, criticized Trump’s blunt rhetoric toward U.S. allies, particularly comments about Greenland and European defense commitments.
“We have to take him literally,” Shirreff told the newspaper. “We have to assume with Trump, as with Putin, that the worst case will happen. Trump is the greater threat [to NATO] if you want to make the comparison. It’s Trump who gets the prize.”
Shirreff’s remarks come despite Trump’s repeated insistence that he would not use force to take Greenland, a territory controlled by NATO member Denmark. Trump has framed the issue primarily in terms of U.S. national security and Arctic defense, arguing that America bears disproportionate responsibility for protecting the region.
During his first term—and again since returning to office—Trump has consistently pressed NATO allies to meet their long-standing commitment to spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense, a goal many European countries ignored for decades. Supporters argue that Trump’s tough approach helped reverse years of complacency and forced allies to take their own security more seriously.
Shirreff nevertheless went further, claiming Trump had “destroyed the international order” during the first year of his second term and was undermining NATO itself.
“The lead nation of the alliance has threatened the territorial integrity of another member,” Shirreff said. “How do you move on and rebuild trust? Nobody will trust Trump again.”
Many Republicans counter that this view overlooks Trump’s record of strengthening NATO militarily rather than rhetorically. U.S. defense spending rose during Trump’s presidency, and several NATO countries increased their own military budgets after sustained pressure from Washington—something previous administrations had failed to achieve.
Shirreff acknowledged that Russia remains an “existential threat” to Europe, but argued that Vladimir Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine initially unified NATO, while Trump has allegedly “decoupled America from European security” and left the alliance “below the waterline.”
“Clearly, Putin threatened it massively but Trump has attacked the one alliance which grants our security,” Shirreff said, adding that the rules-based global system was now “a dead duck.”
The White House sharply disputed that assessment. In a statement to The Independent, officials dismissed Shirreff’s comments and said Trump “has done more for NATO than anyone,” pointing to U.S. military contributions and increased allied defense spending under his leadership.
On Greenland, the White House added: “The United States is the only NATO partner who can protect Greenland, and the President is advancing NATO interests in doing so.”
