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ANKARA, Turkey — America’s NATO allies had hoped President Donald Trump would arrive in Turkey’s capital in a dealmaking mood. Instead he came out swinging, leaving allies once again guessing at his commitment to their defence.
Trump revived a host of grievances against NATO within hours of landing. He said what happens in Ukraine doesn’t affect Washington and repeated his assertions that Greenland should be controlled by the United States.
NATO allies announced billions in new weapons deals and laid out plans for increased spending. And across the grounds of the Bestepe Presidential Compound, many attendees were hanging on to hope that the outcome of the summit could still be positive — but frustrated that the mood had soured so quickly.
“We’re all doing exactly what the Americans demanded and what we have to do for our own security,” a NATO diplomat said. “But a morning of big new defense spending is now overshadowed by complaints over Greenland.”
Allies were especially surprised given Trump’s aides had said ahead of the summit that the U.S. was looking for a constructive two days.
“He’s already taken us off a unifying positive objective,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D.-Del.) “It is so often the case that the president provides his own counter-programming to his own administration.”
NATO’s members have made considerable effort to keep this week’s summit low-key, hoping like last year, that Trump will leave striking a positive tone and without causing any lasting damage to the alliance.
A number of attendees at the meeting of the 32-member alliance worried that Trump’s sour mood would carry over into Wednesday, when they are looking for him to clarify Washington’s intentions for troop pullbacks in Europe, voice support for Ukraine at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and hold a news conference before he returns to Washington.
Even if Trump’s comments cast a shadow over the proceedings, his grievances and posturing are not a surprise, said a former NATO official, who like others, was granted anonymity to to discuss sensitive diplomacy.
“It’s all priced in by this point. Everyone expects it,” the official said.
