Things have changed a great deal in a year. At the NATO summit in The Hague in 2025, Spain and its leader, Pedro Sánchez, were singled out for harsh criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump for refusing to sign on to a 5% defense-spending target. But this year Trump arrived in Ankara with many more enemies in Europe, at least in his view. And in his first address in the Turkish capital — in which he attacked almost everyone, with an impassive Recep Tayyip Erdogan sitting at his side — Trump went after the leaders of some of the major European countries one by one for not supporting him in the war on Iran.
On Tuesday, Trump also renewed his threats to take Greenland, the huge Arctic island that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. “Greenland should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” Trump said before a meeting with Turkish President Erdogan, who is hosting the NATO summit taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Shortly after arriving in the Turkish capital — where he was greeted with great honors and deserted streets to facilitate the passage of his flashy motorcade — the White House chief renewed his criticism of European allies and of Europe itself and its alleged decline. Trump singled out Britain’s Keir Starmer, positing that the latter may have lost his job as prime minister for not helping him with the war against Iran. Then he added that Italy left him stranded, as did Germany and France.
Trump’s argument is simple: the United States has spent years helping to defend Europe through NATO, but the moment Washington asks for help to strike Tehran, the Europeans back out. By contrast, European leaders say they cannot back a clearly illegal conflict with no UN mandate, decided unilaterally by Washington and Tel Aviv without consulting anyone else.
Greenland
Trump has been flirting with the idea of acquiring Greenland for some time. He has even said he would not rule out military action to take the island, although in recent months, faced with unusual criticism from European allies who have defended Denmark, he appears to have leaned toward measures to pressure the island or even toward a long-term framework agreement. Nevertheless, he has never fully ruled out the use of force, despite Copenhagen also being a NATO ally. In Denmark and in the EU they are well aware that Trump is a man of fixed ideas — and that the Greenland episode, though cyclical, is not over. Washington insists the Arctic island is essential to its security.
“That’s what damaged my relationship with NATO because Greenland doesn’t help Denmark, Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States,” Trump said ahead of his bilateral meeting with the Turkish president at the Presidential Complex of the Five Hills. Surrounded by gilded frames, plush carpets and ostentatious décor — a style that appeals to the real estate magnate turned president of the world’s largest economy — he praised the “strong” character of Erdogan, a figure criticized by the opposition for crushing dissent with an iron fist.
Trump, who has an ongoing dispute with Italy’s prime minister, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, over her refusal to help him in Hormuz, and who has even launched personal attacks against her — including posting a meme on social media implying he needs a restraining order against the Italian leader — appears to have buried the hatchet with Italy (until the next round). “Meloni is actually a nice person,” Trump said, stressing that he believes the Italian leader made “a mistake” by not backing the war between the United States and Israel against Iran.
The U.S. is calling on Europe to take responsibility for its own security and has already announced pullbacks from the Old Continent and said it will stop making available to the Alliance certain strategic capabilities that, although based in North America, had been kept ready to deploy to the European region in case of crisis — from fighter jets and submarines to tanker aircraft. Washington, upset with European allies for what it considers low military spending — despite reaching record figures and, last year under U.S. pressure, committing to 5% defense investment by 2035 — and wanting to focus on other theaters such as the Indo-Pacific, has announced a six-month review of its forces in Europe. It also said it will measure its allies’ “commitment and loyalty.” And it will take reprisals.
Now Europeans and Canada are moving to fill those gaps in the continent’s security umbrella. On Tuesday, in another attempt to appease Trump and in response to the Republican’s threats regarding defense investment, NATO deployed industrial muscle at a large fair featuring the main defense companies in Ankara. This year that forum — which in other times was a discreet event — is part of the summit. In the Turkish capital, key contracts worth €12 billion were announced to buy drones, surveillance aircraft and next-generation fighter jets.
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