NATO Unveils Billions in Arms Deals at Turkey Summit
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- NATO will showcase tens of billions in defense contracts at a summit event dubbed 'the big reveal' in Ankara, where Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the deals will provide 'the crucial kit we need to deter and defend.'
- Trump dismissed the alliance as a 'paper tiger' and said he was disappointed some allies refused to join his Iran war launched alongside Israel, declaring: 'I just want loyalty.'
- Surveillance contracts will include replacing NATO's aging AWACS aircraft — about 50 years old — with some projects financed by up to $170 billion in EU-backed cheap loans raised on capital markets.
- Netanyahu urged the U.S. on 'Fox & Friends' not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, warning the deal would 'upset the power balance in the Middle East' guaranteed by Israeli air superiority, contradicting Trump's hints that sales to Erdogan could resume.
- Rutte previously pitched European allies' and Canada's $1.2 trillion in defense spending since 2017 as 'The Trump Trillion,' though Trump said he remained unmoved by the chart.
- Pentagon is promoting 'NATO 3.0,' a vision for Europe to assume greater responsibility for its own defense as the U.S. pivots to China and the Indo-Pacific.
- UK PM Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation June 22, faces criticism for slow defense spending growth; his government has committed to 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2035 but current plans only reach 2.7% by 2029.
Why it matters: NATO is funneling billions in new contracts into its 32 members — including U.S. defense firms — at a moment when Trump is demanding loyalty over a war most allies refused to join, and the Pentagon is actively reshaping the alliance so Europe pays for its own security. Netanyahu's public intervention against F-35 sales to Turkey puts him directly at odds with Trump days before a summit the U.S. president is using to court Erdogan.
