President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for a two-day NATO summit, receiving a ceremonial welcome with military honors and a flyover before opening the visit with a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The summit brings together leaders of the 32-member alliance at a moment of uncertainty over the United States’ future military posture in Europe, continued support for Ukraine and the broader direction of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Trump’s early remarks at the summit quickly drew attention from allied delegations. He criticized NATO members over their response to Iran and repeated his position that Greenland should be under U.S. control, saying he was dissatisfied with the alliance on both issues. Trump has also continued pressing member states to raise defense spending, part of a longstanding complaint that European allies rely too heavily on the United States. Ahead of the meeting, NATO allies announced new weapons deals and outlined plans for increased military spending, while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had pointed to a sharp annual rise in spending by European allies and Canada.
Those developments have produced sharply different interpretations among attendees and observers. Some diplomats and lawmakers said Trump’s comments disrupted efforts to keep the summit focused on alliance unity, arguing that a meeting intended to highlight stronger European defense was instead overshadowed by disputes over Greenland and uncertainty about U.S. commitments. Concerns also persisted over possible U.S. troop reductions in Europe and over how Trump would address Ukraine during a planned meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the same time, some former NATO officials and supporters argued that the alliance had already adapted to Trump’s negotiating style and said his presence in Ankara itself signaled continued U.S. engagement. Lithuanian lawmaker and former NATO official Giedrimas Jeglinskas described Trump’s attendance as a reassuring message and said the draft summit declaration covered key priorities.
The summit’s official agenda centers on defense spending, weapons production and support for Ukraine, which is now in its fifth year of full-scale war with Russia. A draft leaders’ statement reaffirmed commitment to Article 5, NATO’s mutual defense clause, and described Russia as a long-term threat to alliance members, while also stating that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. But broader tensions frame the meeting. European allies are seeking clarity on U.S. force levels after the Pentagon announced a six-month review of the American presence in Europe, and Trump has demanded what he calls “loyalty” after some countries resisted allowing their bases to be used for strikes on Iran. Denmark, for its part, has again rejected any suggestion that Greenland could be transferred, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen saying the territory is not for sale and that its people’s right to self-determination must be respected.
