Trudeau braces for tough questions at summit

Canada likely to be grilled on spending, as alliance ponders Trump presidency

- ALEX BALLINGALL

Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine is in its third, brutal year. Tensions between nuclear powers have spawned fears of a new Cold War. And with questions about whether the so-called “Leader of the Free World” is too frail to get re-elected, anxieties persist that Donald Trump will bring his brand of American isolationism back to the White House.

That’s the state of affairs greeting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as he arrives in Washington, D.C. for this year’s North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit, himself hobbled by doubts over his political survival and facing questions about Canada’s contribution to the alliance on its 75th anniversary.

Government leaders gathering this week are expected to continue their drive to strengthen NATO for a more dangerous world, and to try and agree on more reliable support for war-ravaged Ukraine. But even if it’s not on the official agenda, questions about NATO’s key player — the United States — will hang over the summit.

“It won’t be a consideration at the summit, but the fear will be there,” said Kerry Buck, Canada’s ambassador to NATO from 2015 to 2018.

“The spectre of an unpredictable U.S. will be underlying all of the summit.”

The reason for that, mostly, is Trump, the populist demagogue and former president trying to return to power in this year’s election. At a rally earlier this year, Trump suggested the U.S. might not adhere to NATO’s core principle of collective defence if Russia invaded countries that haven’t been paying their agreed share on their militaries. He has also cast uncertainty on whether the U.S. would continue as Ukraine’s foremost supporter, and vowed to make peace with Vladimir Putin, raising fears he would pressure Kyiv to surrender territory to the Russian invader.