WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump held a private meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday in Washington and repeated his complaints about the military alliance, suggesting once again that the United States might consider leaving NATO. Before the meeting took place, Trump had publicly raised the possibility of a U.S. withdrawal from the 32-member organization.

"NATO WASN'T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON'T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN," Trump said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt had acknowledged earlier on Wednesday that the president was expected to discuss leaving the alliance during the meeting. "I think it's something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with Secretary-General Rutte," Leavitt said before the two leaders convened.

Trump has been a longtime critic of NATO and has said that he would abandon allies who do not spend enough on their military budgets. During his first term, he suggested he had the authority to leave NATO unilaterally. In 2023, Congress passed a law that prohibits a U.S. president from withdrawing from the alliance without congressional approval.

NATO was founded in 1949 to counter the Cold War threat posed to European security by the Soviet Union. The alliance's 32 member countries are bound by a mutual defense agreement stipulating that an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. That collective defense provision has been activated only once — in 2001, when NATO allies moved to support the United States after the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Wednesday's meeting between Trump and Rutte came after the two leaders navigated a separate disagreement earlier this year, when the president pressed for U.S. control over Greenland before dropping the idea following talks with the secretary-general. Trump and Rutte have previously maintained friendly relations.