A terrorist attack at a concert in Manchester, England, is shifting the focus of President Trump’s first meeting with NATO members.

The bombing of the pop concert will overshadow the previous agenda when the heads of state meet Thursday.

And while the differences between Trump’s and other NATO members’ support for the military alliance will likely be raised, the spotlight is expected to land elsewhere.

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Trump seized on the attack as further evidence of the need for a tougher line on counterterrorism.

“We cannot stand a moment longer for the slaughter of innocent people,” he said Tuesday, adding that terrorists and extremists need to be “driven out from our society forever. This wicked ideology must be obliterated, and I mean completely obliterated.”

On Monday, a suicide bomber identified as 22-year-old British-born Salman Ramadan Abedi detonated a device as people were leaving a concert by American pop star Ariana Grande. The bombing killed 22 and injured another 59, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Britain since 2005 and the fourth deadliest in Western Europe since 2015.

On Tuesday night, the United Kingdom raised its terror threat level from “severe” to “critical,” the highest level of the alert system that signifies an attack is “imminent.”

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack, though U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats Daniel (Dan) Ray CoatsFBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Trump, Biden renew push for Latino support Former Intel chief had 'deep suspicions' that Putin 'had something on Trump': book MORE said Tuesday morning the United States has not confirmed that.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg strongly condemned the attack Tuesday, saying in a statement that “all NATO allies stand united in the fight against terrorism, and in defense of our open societies.”

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The timing of the attack, just days before Trump’s first NATO meeting, is likely to give Trump impetus to reiterate his calls for the alliance to do more on terrorism.

“Certainly I think the events in Manchester are going to overshadow the NATO mini-summit, and it’s going to provide increased impetus for NATO member states to do more in terms of the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” said Nile Gardiner, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom. “Certainly President Trump will be making the case for greater contributions from NATO allies.”

Throughout the presidential campaign and into his first weeks in office, Trump called NATO “obsolete,” in part because he believed it was not focused enough on terrorism. He has also frequently criticized member countries on their defense spending, calling on allies to spend more.

Defenders of NATO say the alliance has been fighting terrorism for years, highlighting that the only time the mutual defense clause known as Article 5 has been invoked was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

After a meeting with Stoltenberg in April, Trump declared that NATO is “no longer obsolete.” Still, he reiterated his desire for NATO to have a greater role in the ISIS fight and continued his criticism of its spending.

“It’s my hope that NATO will take on an increased role in supporting our Iraqi partners in their battle against ISIS,” Trump said in April. “NATO has the experience, the expertise, and the staying power to make a real difference, and fighting terrorism will be an important topic when NATO leaders meet in Brussels in May.”

On Tuesday, Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainThe electoral reality that the media ignores Kelly's lead widens to 10 points in Arizona Senate race: poll COVID response shows a way forward on private gun sale checks MORE (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Manchester attack puts into focus the threat of terrorism but noted that NATO has been doing a lot in the fight.

“They’ve been doing a great deal, but it just heightens the urgency of taking out Raqqa and Mosul and developing better intelligence, and it just heightens the criticality of us understanding what a terrible threat this really is,” McCain told The Hill, referring to ISIS’s stronghold cities.

Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamThe Hill's Campaign Report: Arizona shifts towards Biden | Biden prepares for drive-in town hall | New Biden ad targets Latino voters Senate Democrats' campaign arm announces seven-figure investment to boost Graham challenger Graham: Comey to testify about FBI's Russia probe, Mueller declined invitation MORE (R-S.C.) said Trump has done well addressing terrorism during his foreign trip, and he expects that will continue with the NATO meeting.

“I think Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia was good, because we need the Islamic world to push back,” Graham told The Hill. “To kill radical Islam, you have to kill it in the mosque, you have to kill it in cyberspace. You’re going to have to have more partners, not less. So asking European nations to do more in terms of NATO counterterrorism is a good thing, and asking the Sunni Arab world to fight back against an ideology that emanates from their branch of Islam is a good thing.”

The alliance is poised to take two steps at this week’s meeting that should address Trump’s concerns on terrorism and spending, though experts say both have been in the works for years.

First, NATO is expected to officially join the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS. Every country in NATO is a member of the coalition, and NATO already provides surveillance planes to the coalition and training to Iraqi troops. But the alliance as its own entity is not a member.

Stoltenberg told reporters last week that NATO troops would not go into combat in Syria or Iraq but that the alliance could provide a platform for coordinating support, as well as more training and capacity building for local forces.

“Those allies who are arguing in favor are pointing at the fact that by joining the coalition, NATO could send a clear message of political support,” he said.

Heritage’s Gardiner argued that the coalition doesn’t need an “official NATO stamp on it,” but said allies could do more, such as providing more aircraft, special forces or training to Iraqis.

Alexander Vershbow, former NATO deputy secretary-general, said joining the coalition would be more symbolic than anything but that it would give Trump a win.

“Trump has called for more directly fighting terrorism, but that’s perplexing for allies given that NATO has been in Afghanistan for more than 15 years,” he said.

The second step the alliance is expected to take this week is an announcement that each country will commit to submitting national blueprints detailing how they will meet NATO’s goal of spending 2 percent of their gross domestic process on defense.

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The move toward increasing defense spending to meet alliance goals started before Trump’s criticisms, but he “put the fear of God into allies” to make better progress, Vershbow said.

Retired Adm. James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander of NATO, likewise said NATO has been working on spending “for decades,” but said Trump’s “heat and light” on the issue have been a good thing.

Going into the meeting, Stavridis said, allies are hopeful Trump will continue the warming to the alliance he expressed after meeting Stoltenberg.

“Allies are feeling a lot better today than they did during the campaign,” he said. “They have cautious optimism the Trump administration will be a leader of the alliance.”