NATO pushes Europe to take bigger role as Trump pressures allies

Trump’s insults toward allies and demands for loyalty collided with a quieter shift inside NATO: Europe is being pushed to carry more of the alliance’s defense burden. That balance was visible in Ankara, where leaders gathered at the Beştepe Presidential Compound with the war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East and pressure on Europe’s own security role all shaping the agenda.

The biggest structural change was agreed at last year’s summit in The Hague. Allies committed to spend 5% of GDP a year on defense-related needs by 2035, split between 3.5% for core defense requirements and 1.5% for broader security-related spending. NATO linked the pledge to the alliance’s capability targets and Article 3 of the Washington Treaty, which requires allies to maintain and develop their own capacity and collective strength.

That commitment is already reshaping the numbers. NATO said European allies and Canada increased core defense investment by USD 139 billion in 2025 in nominal terms, a sign that the burden is moving outward from Washington even before the 2035 deadline arrives. NATO has also said some allies could reach the new target as early as 2026, underscoring how quickly budgets are rising even if military capacity will take longer to build.

The 2026 NATO summit, held July 7-8 in Ankara, was Türkiye’s second time hosting the alliance after Istanbul in 2004. Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary-general, has been working to keep the United States anchored to the alliance, while Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hosted and helped shape the summit’s choreography. The setting was meant to be restrained, with allies focused on implementation rather than spectacle.

Trump instead pulled attention back to the political strain inside the alliance. He criticized NATO allies over defense spending, singled out Spain and revived his push on Greenland during the summit. That public pressure sharpened the central question hanging over the meeting: whether Europe can turn larger budgets into real military power fast enough to keep Trump engaged, while the United States prepares for a smaller role in Europe’s security.