Trump administration leaves key NATO allies out of Poland meeting

WASHINGTON, DC: The Trump administration has decided to leave some key NATO allies out of an upcoming meeting in Poland.

The move follows earlier warnings from the White House about creating a “naughty and nice list” for countries that don’t align with the president’s agenda. Six diplomats involved in the planning say this meeting, led by Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, will focus on NATO’s future and operate as a working group.

Trump's ongoing criticism of NATO

Some major defense contributors, like the United Kingdom, France, and the Baltic states, didn’t make the invitation list.

That puzzled their diplomats, especially since these countries play key roles in NATO.

One official from one of these excluded nations said their government has done everything the administration asked but still doesn’t understand why they didn’t get an invite. The criteria for participation remain unclear to them.

They question whether the administration is playing favorites in a way that could further splinter an alliance already struggling with increasing Russian aggression and depleted weapons stockpiles.

“We’re doing everything that is being asked of us,” said an official from an excluded ally nation. “We’re trying to understand what the criteria is and what the purpose of these meetings are. Not much has been passed on to us yet.”

President Donald Trump and his top lieutenants have relentlessly criticized NATO since returning to power, on everything from members’ refusal to back the Iran war to the failure of some countries to spend 5% of their GDP on defense.

“I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street, We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump railed in a Truth Social post this year.

The ‘Bergen Group’ and a potential new addition

Colby has already hosted two smaller meetings; these are called the Bergen Group, with Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany, and the Netherlands. 

According to a diplomat from one of the invited countries, the goal isn’t to split the alliance. Instead, it’s about coming up with ideas first in a small group, then sharing those ideas with all of NATO for everyone to consider.

“This can be an engine for transformation,” for the whole alliance, the diplomat said. The person acknowledged that some allies are frustrated by the exclusion, especially since many have hit or surpassed the spending targets demanded by the Trump administration.

The US might add Denmark to the exclusive club next, given the agreement reached between the two countries to expand the American military footprint in Greenland, according to another person familiar with the planning.

But even invited allies question why Colby and other defense officials have cherry-picked attendees and left out some of the continent’s largest defense powers, such as Britain.

“If they try splitting NATO into the good ones and the bad ones, it is dangerous for the US,” said another of the six diplomats. “But for Europe, this is existential.”