Trump Slams 'One-Sided' NATO Days Before Ankara Summit
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- Trump called the U.S.-NATO relationship 'ridiculous' and 'one sided' in a Truth Social post on July 3, 2026, less than a week before the alliance's summit in Ankara, writing 'They were not there for us!!!'
- The post included a chart showing U.S. defence spending vastly exceeding other depicted NATO member states.
- Trump has repeatedly attacked European allies over the war in Iran — where several countries restricted the use of bases for U.S. forces — and wants Europe to take the lead in its own defence, with Washington already scaling back its commitments.
- Under pressure from Trump, NATO leaders agreed at a gathering last year to boost defence-related spending to five percent of GDP by 2035.
- The Ankara summit on July 7-8 will bring together NATO's 32 member states, with the alliance founded in 1949 as a U.S.-led defence force credited with maintaining stability in Europe and keeping the Soviet Union at bay.
Why it matters: Trump is escalating his NATO criticism five days before the 32-member Ankara summit, even after extracting a concrete win last year — the 5%-of-GPD-by-2035 spending pledge — and after Washington already began scaling back its commitments. The July 7-8 gathering becomes a deadline for European capitals to demonstrate they're carrying more of their own defence, particularly given several allies' earlier move to restrict U.S. base access during the Iran war.
