Tensions over Iran war, defense spending dominate gathering
President Donald Trump criticized NATO allies over defense spending and their response to the Iran war during the Ankara summit, then praised the alliance’s unity hours later, according to Guardian defence and security editor Dan Sabbagh.
The July 7–8 summit, which NATO had hoped to brand as a “delivery summit” after last year’s 3.5% spending pledge, was instead dominated by Trump’s contradictory statements about the alliance, Sabbagh said.
Trump told reporters he was “very disappointed” with NATO allies, saying they did not back the United States during its war on Iran. He said his requests for European support were intended to test the alliance’s reliability.
Later, Trump struck a different tone. At one point, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump “It’s your win,” to which Trump responded, “That’s why I like him,” according to the Guardian.
Trump also addressed the ceasefire with Iran, saying he believed it was over. “I don’t want to deal with them any more. They’re scum,” he said, according to the Guardian.
Allied leaders, according to CNN, braced for criticism as Trump spoke to reporters, with some fearing he would announce a U.S. withdrawal from NATO. Behind closed doors, CNN reported, Trump was “a little less bombastic than Trump in front of cameras.”
Sabbagh described NATO as having emerged from the summit “a little bit bruised.”
The summit’s tensions extend longstanding disagreements between the Trump administration and European allies over defense spending and the Iran conflict. Trump has argued that the United States bears an unfair share of NATO’s defense costs. MSI previously reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Trump’s disappointment with allies over the Iran war “will have to be addressed” at the summit, which he described as “one of the more important” in NATO’s 77-year history.