Trump praises NATO unity as allies boost defense spending

Trump embraced NATO on Wednesday in Ankara, praising allies for boosting defense spending and saying nothing about Greenland during the meeting, even after reopening tensions earlier in the summit by insisting the Danish territory should be controlled by the United States. The shift came as NATO leaders tried to project unity around collective defense, support for Ukraine and pressure on members to spend more.

The alliance had already framed the summit around hard numbers. NATO said European allies and Canada increased core defense investments by more than $139 billion in 2025, and it announced more than $50 billion in new procurements in Ankara. The meeting also followed a day of arms-related announcements meant in part to show Trump that allies were spending more, a message that has become central to NATO’s effort to keep Washington engaged.

Mark Rutte, NATO’s secretary general, publicly leaned into that message. He praised Trump for pressing allies on defense spending and told him, “Grab the win,” a striking sign of how much the alliance has tied its diplomacy to Trump’s demand that burden-sharing be more visible and more expensive. Trump also criticized allies including Spain over defense spending and trade earlier in the summit, underscoring that the praise in the meeting did not erase the friction surrounding the talks.

The policy backdrop is a far larger commitment than any one summit soundbite. At the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague, allies agreed to spend 5% of gross domestic product annually on defense by 2035, including at least 3.5% for core defense requirements. NATO said that pledge built on the 2014 Wales Summit commitment to spend 2% of GDP after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and on the security shock created by the war in Ukraine. In its Ankara declaration, NATO said Russia poses a long-term threat to Euro-Atlantic security and stability.

Denmark responded sharply to Trump’s Greenland remarks. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark was ready to defend every inch of NATO, including the kingdom of Denmark and Greenland. The exchange left NATO’s public display of unity intact for the moment, but it also showed how quickly alliance politics can swing between transactional praise and open confrontation when Trump presses on territory, trade and military spending.