Trump praises Erdoğan, pressures Europe on NATO and defense

By Morgan Sweeney
The Center Square

President Donald Trump remained icy toward key European leaders at the NATO Summit Tuesday, though he had nothing but good things to say about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

U.S.-Turkey relations

Trump’s already tense relationship with many of the U.S.’s traditional European allies grew colder through the American conflict with Iran, as most countries didn’t offer the kind of support Trump said was warranted.

Trump specifically publicly called on China, France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. at one point to help apply pressure on Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Some European countries reinforced their assets in the region for security purposes, but they ultimately fell short of the kind of intervention the president indicated he wanted.

On Tuesday, he said he kept Turkey from joining Iran in the conflict because they don’t like Israel, but he still said that Turkey has “been much more loyal than other countries.”

Trump said the U.S. was going to be lifting sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 after it purchased Russian missile defense systems, and that he was still considering whether to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Turkey was removed from the U.S.-led multinational F-35 program in 2019 over the purchase.

“I have no concerns about anything having to do with Turkey’s relationship. I would say the relationship with Turkey right now is better, probably than it’s ever been. It was good in my first four years, but I think now it’s probably even better than that, if that’s possible,” Trump told reporters.

U.S.-NATO relations

Despite the seeming progress made at last year’s NATO Summit at the Hague, with 31 of 32 NATO members agreeing to raise their defense spending to 5% of their GDP by 2035 as the U.S. had proposed, the president still appeared soured on the alliance as a whole.

The U.S. recently withdrew 5,000 troops from its standing military forces in Germany over diplomatic disputes over Iran. He voiced disappointment with NATO when asked whether more troop drawdowns were imminent.

“I was very disappointed with NATO, and frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, I think it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended,” Trump said. “We weren’t treated well because we did something in Iran.”

“You would think that they’d be very willing to do something to help us, and they really weren’t,” he added.

U.S. taxpayers are expected top spend about $933 million on NATO in 2026, or roughly 15% of its total budget, according to USAFacts.org.

Iran

The president suggested that the U.S.-Iran conflict would likely be discussed at the summit, but he didn’t mention any specifics.

Russia and Ukraine

The president said he spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in separate phone calls on Tuesday and said the calls went well and that he believed both wanted the conflict to end.

He would not directly answer whether Putin seemed open to any concessions, as one reporter asked, but insisted a resolution was on its way.

“I get along very well with both of them and we’re going to get it settled,” he said.

What’s next at the summit

The president also attended a social dinner with NATO leaders Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday, he will participate in a leaders’ working session, meet with Zelenskyy, meet with the Syrian president and participate in a press conference.