NATO Secretary General hasn’t threatened to expel the United States from alliance

A fake quote supposedly from NATO’s most senior official, threatening to expel the US from the alliance if President-elect Donald Trump “surrenders Ukraine to Putin”, has been circulating on social media.

One post on X, formerly Twitter, has been reshared more than 3,300 times, and says: “‘If Trump Surrenders Ukraine to Putin then America will be expelled from The Alliance’ – Mark Rutte – NATO Secretary General. Would this bother you if you’re an American?”

The same quote has also been shared on Facebook many times. But, as NATO has confirmed, it is not genuine. 

A spokesperson for the organisation told Full Fact: “This is a bogus claim. Secretary General Rutte has never said this.” 

They also pointed us towards the Secretary General’s most recent remarks made to the media about President-elect Trump, congratulating him on his election victory and praising him for getting NATO countries to spend more on defence during his first presidency beyond two percent of the GDP target.

Full Fact also could not find any record of Mr Rutte saying any such statement threatening to expel the US. NATO does not have a specific mechanism to suspend or expel a member, and the previous Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, said a system to expel anyone among its ranks would “never happen” because the group would need consensus to introduce one. Members can, however, voluntarily withdraw.

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