The White House just announced on Tuesday that the President will be attending the Nato Summit. It will be hosted out of the Belgian capital of Brussels in the middle of this year. Prior to his first travel outside the U.S., he will also be recognizing Nato Secretary General Jans Stoltenberg in a formal event coming this April. Despite Trump's views of the organization, he plans to collaborate with many foreign officials on "how to strengthen the alliance to cope with challenges to national and international security," he says.
Anticipation to reaffirm participation
President Trump plans to attend this summit as a strong representation of American involvement in protecting foreign relations. Despite Rex Tillerson's proposed absence from the NATO summit, Trump will be there in May, the White House mentioned on Tuesday. His administration has had to face intense scrutiny due to the actions of the U.S. Secretary. The President's attendance at the summit will give them the redemption that they need for America when it comes to the U.S. enforcing any future foreign policy.
"The President looks forward to meeting with his NATO counterparts and to reaffirm our strong commitment to NATO," says the White House.
They have released a statement saying that Trump has plans to "discuss issues critical to the alliance, especially allied responsibility-sharing and NATO's role in the fight against terrorism."
NATO attendance and Trump's reputation
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Tuesday that the summit is scheduled for May 25, 2017.
Trump being at this meeting with heads of state in Belgium could stand out as a form of redemption. A redemption toward the reputation he obtained after his 2016 campaign comments about the summit and Rex Tillerson's most recent abandonment of it.
Many have become vaguely opinionated of Trump. They have insisted that because of his individual favoritism toward Russia, his administration is neglecting the original alliances that the U.S.
has. However, Tillerson is the top government official of this summit and he is choosing to be absent. His actions will be seen as a cause for concern. This will leave Trump to declare at the summit himself that the U.S. will be in full support of NATO.