At NATO Summit in Ankara, Trump Presses Allies on Spending and Greenland

President Trump used the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday to press allies on defense spending and loyalty, to renew his demand that the United States control Greenland, and to say he would lift sanctions on Turkey, according to PBS News and Reuters. New U.S. strikes on Iran came against the backdrop of the summit.

On Greenland, Trump said the island “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” and said the U.S. could “remove all of our soldiers out of Europe” if Denmark would not go along, PBS reported. He had challenged Danish sovereignty in January. PBS reported earlier that more than 70,000 U.S. troops are in Europe and that the Pentagon has indicated it will draw down troops and bases there.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said “model allies,” among them Israel, South Korea, Poland, increasingly Germany and the Baltic states, would receive the administration’s “special favor,” while allies that fail to do their part “will face consequences,” PBS reported. Trump questioned why the U.S. spends “hundreds of billions” on NATO when Europeans “are not there for us.” Several European countries had declined U.S. requests to use their bases for attacks on Iran, according to PBS.

The administration’s case is about burden-sharing. At last year’s summit in The Hague, allies pledged to spend 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense, and a senior administration official described an expectation that NATO leaders put their money where their mouths are, PBS reported. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Trump “has been extremely forceful, encouraging us to do this,” and Europeans were expected to present “clear, concrete, and credible plans” toward the 5 percent goal, PBS reported.

Rutte announced alliance capabilities built partly by European countries, including European-built planes to move heavy equipment, long-range missiles and a satellite network, which are to begin replacing mostly American-made systems. They are “really made in NATO, not by one nation, but several,” he said. PBS noted that some will take years to field, so the alliance still relies on U.S. troops and technology.

Turkey was the other headline. Trump said he would lift the sanctions imposed in 2020 over Ankara’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defenses, telling reporters, “We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” according to Reuters via Defense News. He said he was open to selling Turkey F-35 fighter jets, though he did not explain how a sale would work legally. Congress has barred F-35 sales while Turkey keeps the S-400s, and one option under discussion is moving the S-400s to a third country, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. PBS said no decision had been announced.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped for a “positive decision,” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an F-35 sale would “destroy the power balance” in the Middle East, PBS reported. It also said members of Congress from both parties have concerns about Turkey. Trump called Turkey “much more loyal than other countries.” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who asked for more air defense, was due to meet Trump on the summit sidelines the next day.