Finnish envoy reached out to Trump to discuss NATO: NYT

Present and former diplomats of the European countries expressed concern over the future of NATO, if Donald Trump returns to White House as US President, according to a report published by The New York Times on Saturday.

The ambassadors said there was growing concern a second Trump presidency could mean an American retreat from the continent and a gutting of NATO, said the NYT.

European ambassadors and think tank officials have been making pilgrimages to associates of Trump to inquire about his intentions.

At least one ambassador, Finland’s Mikko Hautala, has reached out directly to Trump and sought to persuade him of his country’s value to NATO as a new member, said the report, referring to two people familiar with the conversations.

In interviews over the past several months, more than a half-dozen current and former European diplomats — speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution from Trump should he win — said alarm was rising on Embassy Row and among their home governments that Trump’s return could mean not just the abandonment of Ukraine, but a broader American retreat from the continent and a gutting of the Atlantic alliance.

Click The New York Times to read the detail report.