The NATO summit kicked off in Washington D.C., the capital of the United States, on Tuesday (July 9). During the summit, several European senior officials met with a senior foreign policy advisor to former U.S. President Trump. America’s allies are preparing for the possibility of Trump being re-elected.
According to Reuters, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, who served as Chief of Staff of the National Security Council during the Trump administration, told Reuters that in recent days, he had met with several European officials, including foreign ministers. However, he did not disclose the identities of these foreign officials, nor did he reveal the specific topics discussed during the meetings.
Although Kellogg remains in touch with Trump, he emphasized that his statements do not represent Trump or his campaign team.
Nevertheless, European officials are still eager to obtain information about Trump’s future foreign policy. In recent months, foreign diplomats have regularly met with officials from the Trump administration.
The United States will hold its presidential election on November 5, 2024. Key concerns of European countries include how Trump would handle the conflict in Ukraine and the relationship between the U.S. and NATO if re-elected.
On Monday (July 8), Kellogg posted a photo on social media platform X, indicating that he had an informal meeting with Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament.
In a report from Reuters in June, Kellogg and another advisor to Trump presented a plan to the former president to end the conflict in Ukraine. The plan included getting Ukraine’s leader to agree to sit down for future aid to Kyiv being contingent on engaging in talks with Moscow.
Three other foreign policy officials from the Trump era told Reuters that a European delegation had approached them, seeking a meeting during the NATO summit mainly for logistical reasons, but these meetings did not take place. These officials requested anonymous unofficial discussions.
Furthermore, according to a photo posted on Facebook by North Macedonia Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski, Mickoski met with Richard Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence during the Trump era.