Trump hails “unity” shown at NATO summit, despite recent tensions with European allies
Washington (CBS NEWS) – According to CBS News, President Trump said “unification” was the dominant theme of a “successful” North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Turkey this week, suggesting two days of gatherings with NATO allies smoothed over some of the president’s frustrations with them over Iran.
Mr. Trump, who began the summit in Ankara by suggesting Turkey is a better ally than many of the more traditional European allies, concluded it with a press conference touting the “tremendous love” exhibited by all NATO leaders for the U.S. and for each other.
“If you could have seen the respect and the love in the room, and it’s love really for the country, for our country,” he said. “But they do, they like the job I’m doing. They said, ‘We love, sir, we love you.’ These are grown people saying that, isn’t that nice? Maybe, I don’t know, maybe they’re trying to get to me. And in a way they did, because there was tremendous unity in that room.”
He thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the host of the summit, calling him a “great man” and a “great leader.” But flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, the president took a more positive tone toward European allies, despite his criticisms of them for not taking more active roles in helping the U.S. with Iran.
“They just had a bad moment,” Mr. Trump said, referring to several allies’ decision to stay on the sidelines regarding Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. “They didn’t help us. We didn’t need the help. But if we would have wanted the help.”
“I can only say if there’s one word that comes out of today it’s unification,” he added. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Every one of those countries. They love us, they love each other. That was tremendous unification.”
At the two-day summit, Mr. Trump continued to press NATO states to spend 5% of their annual GDP on defense, as the Trump administration has long held many members aren’t carrying their weight. Mr. Trump insisted “all” the NATO countries want U.S. defense equipment.
Iran came up repeatedly in the president’s bilateral meetings. Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Trump said that the ceasefire with Iran is “over.” He told reporters that the U.S. may reinstate its naval blockade of Iran, and would probably strike Iran harder again Wednesday night, after Iran attacked three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz this week.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed support for the strikes the U.S. has conducted since Iran’s attacks on the tankers: “It was a very strong response, and I’m with you on this.”
Mr. Trump declared that “the Iran war has been a tremendous military success,” before suggesting during his press conference that Iran might assassinate him, noting its leaders were killed during the war.
“Their leaders are gone,” he said of Iran. “Head leaders, they’re gone, and they had another set of leaders, they’re gone. Now they have another set of leaders — they may be gone — who knows. And you know what? I may be gone, too. Because I’m their No. 1 target.”
“I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them,” Mr. Trump added, saying he might just “finish” the job in Iran.
Greenland also continues to be an unanswered question for the Trump administration, roiling European allies in NATO.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said Greenland is “very important to us,” adding the U.S. “took Greenland” after World War II, “and then stupidly we gave it back.” The U.S. did defend Greenland from German occupation during World War II, but Denmark always retained the island.
“Greenland is, of course, not for sale,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen repeated Wednesday.
“We hope that all, including all allies, will respect the Greenland people’s right for self-determination,” Frederiksen said. “And we are sovereign states and we need everybody to respect our territorial integrity and our sovereignty.”
She said Denmark is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other. Other NATO member countries have reaffirmed their support for Denmark.
Amid this rupture, Mr. Trump said Tuesday that the U.S. should help Turkey, a country that “frankly has been more helpful to the United States than many other more traditional countries.” On Tuesday, he announced his plans to ease sanctions on Turkey, and said he’s considering allowing the country to reenter the F-35 fighter jet program once again. Turkey was kicked out of the program by the Trump administration in 2019 over its use of Russian defense technology, seen as a national security concern. In 2020, Congress passed legislation effectively prohibiting the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey.
While some Republicans are still expressing concerns over the possibility of Turkey acquiring F-35s, Mr. Trump said he doesn’t have any concerns about Turkey, and praised Erdoğan.
“I have no concerns at all about anything,” he said. “I mean, he’s a leader of a country that he’s made a much better country, much more powerful country. You see it — I mean, it’s beautiful, you get off, the roads are beautiful, it’s an amazing thing. No, I have no concerns about anything having to do with Turkey.”
Mr. Trump met with a number of world leaders on the sidelines of NATO, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia’s war in Ukraine is another key topic for NATO allies, with no resolution in sight. During their meeting, Mr. Trump announced the U.S. will grant Ukraine the license to make their own Patriot missiles for defense, even as Mr. Trump offered sympathetic words to both Russia and Ukraine. The U.S. president told reporters to give him questions to convey to Russian President Vladimir Putin when they speak later.
A Ukrainian reporter asked, “When will he end this war?”
“That’s a good question,” the U.S. president responded. “I don’t think I’ve ever asked him that question. I’m going to ask him that question.”
