Trump swings from NATO scorn to praise at Turkey summit

Donald Trump ended the NATO summit in Ankara calling the room full of “a lot of love” and “a lot of unity” after spending the first day scolding allies over defense spending and Greenland. The shift captured the alliance’s central problem: European governments need Washington’s security guarantee, but they are still forced to manage a president whose praise and pressure can turn on a dime.

The two-day meeting in Turkey, held July 7 and July 8, opened under strain over NATO defense spending, the war in Iran, Russia’s threat to Ukraine and Trump’s complaint that allies had not backed the United States enough on Iran. On the first day, Trump said he was “very disappointed with NATO,” singled out Spain for not committing to the alliance’s new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035, and revived his push for U.S. control of Greenland, a semiautonomous part of Denmark. Before the summit, he had been blunt about what he wanted from allies: “I just want loyalty.”

By the end of the gathering, however, Trump was praising the mood as the summit wrapped. He described the room as having “a lot of love” and “a lot of unity,” and said the meeting had been a success. NATO leaders, eager to avoid a damaging public clash, had kept expectations low in advance and worked to prevent a rupture that could have spilled into defense planning and support for Ukraine. That caution reflected months of uncertainty in allied capitals over whether Washington would stand firmly behind the alliance.

The summit declaration tried to close that gap with hard language on collective defense, saying Article 5 was “ironclad” and that “an attack on one is an attack on all.” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte reinforced that message, saying “NATO delivers” and that allies warmly welcomed Trump’s leadership. The alliance also kept the diplomatic machinery moving: Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines, and held talks with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and appearances with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other leaders.

For allies, the choreography in Ankara was less about celebrating Trump than containing him. Their willingness to flatter him, lower the temperature and avoid a public blowup showed a mix of strategy, fatigue and fear of a breach that could unsettle Europe’s security architecture at a moment when support for Ukraine and confidence in U.S. credibility remain under pressure.