NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is heading to Washington next week to meet President Trump, and the timing says it all. Trump has been hammering so-called allies for years over their pathetic failure to pull their weight in defense while America foots the bill.

Rutte knows the game is up. In a blunt January speech to the European Parliament, he shredded the fantasy of a self-reliant Europe:

“If anyone thinks the European Union or Europe can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming! You can’t! We can’t!”

He went even harder on the dreamers pushing “strategic autonomy”:

“If you really want to go it alone, forget about 5 percent GDP on defense. It will be 10 percent! You have to build up your own nuclear capability. That costs billions and billions of euros. In that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella. So, hey, good luck!”

Translation: Europe has been freeloading on American muscle, money, and the nuclear shield for decades. Without it, their socialist welfare states would crumble under the real cost of security.

Trump’s tough stance is working. No more blank checks from U.S. taxpayers. Time for deadbeat allies to step up or step aside. America First means fair deals, not endless subsidies for ungrateful partners who mock us while hiding behind our protection.

The meeting should be short and sweet: Pay up or protect yourselves. Good luck with that.