Turkish police clad in black stood stationed at street corners, flanked by giant blue banners proclaiming “The Key to Peace,” all set as a ceremonial welcome for Donald Trump.
As NATO leaders gather for a critical summit in Ankara, Turkey, the shadow of U.S. President Donald Trump is dominating the alliance. Ahead of the meetings, Trump escalated his criticism of transatlantic defense spending, calling NATO a “one-sided” relationship and forcing European nations to face a massive, accelerated security crisis.
While this may officially be a NATO summit, it is the US president who has had the metaphorical red carpet rolled out for him.
Trump has made no secret of his disdain for NATO, openly stating that his only reason for coming to Ankara this year was because the summit is being hosted by his friend, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganwho made a point of going to the airport to welcome Trump in person.
The two leaders then walked arm-in-arm as a military band played “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” while Turkish Air Force jets performed a flypast overhead, trailing smoke in the red, white, and blue of the American flag.
There was always a risk that Trump would act as a disruptor at this summit. True to form, his inflammatory remarks have shattered the carefully crafted image of unity at this crucial gathering
Shortly after landing, he delivered a casual, throwaway line repeating his assertion that the United States should take over Greenland an island that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark, a fellow NATO ally.
He did acknowledge, however, that his previous comments on the matter had strained his relationship with NATO.
Denmark’s prime minister has warned that if the US were ever to seize Greenland by force, it would spell the end of the alliance.
Then there is the issue of Iran. Trump is clearly still bitter that his NATO allies refused to join his war of choice earlier this year a conflict launched without consulting them that went on to play havoc with the global economy.
He even singled out the UK for criticism, despite Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer allowing him to launch airstrikes on Iranian missile sites from British airbases.
Referring to the UK prime minister, Trump said: “He said, No we’ll help after the war is over. I said, ‘I don’t want that kind of help. We didn’t need any help at all.’ In a way, I was testing people; I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.”
The British delegation here has been keen to promote its defense collaboration with European partners.
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However, Sir Keir has arrived in Ankara for his final NATO summit carrying a Defence Investment Plan that critics have derided for falling billions of pounds short of the requirements outlined in last year’s widely praised Strategic Defence Review.
But beyond the optics and the speeches, NATO delegates have turned their focus to the serious business of rearming Europe and determining how their defense industries can best cooperate.
