Trump's Iran Grudge Overshadows NATO Summit in Ankara
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- Trump arrived at Tuesday's NATO summit in Ankara furious that allies refused to open air bases for U.S. strikes on Iran or help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, saying he considered skipping the leaders' gathering altogether.
- In the weeks since the Iran war, Trump has publicly humiliated Italian PM Giorgia Meloni with a 'restraining order' meme and broke news of UK PM Keir Starmer's resignation before calling him 'no Winston Churchill.'
- The Pentagon has cut U.S. Army brigade combat teams in Europe from four to three, scrapped a planned 4,000-troop deployment to Poland, and reduced the jets, tankers and warships available to NATO in a crisis.
- Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced a six-month review of U.S. forces in Europe, branding allies 'shameful' for refusing base access for Iran strikes, though one U.S. official said 'a NATO drawdown isn't really on the table'.
- U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Trump will push allies faster toward spending 5% of GDP on defense and reiterated the president's desire to take control of Greenland from Denmark as a way to check Russia in the Arctic.
- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is one of the few NATO leaders still in Trump's good graces; Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu privately asked Trump last Friday to avoid selling Turkey advanced weapons systems.
- Ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a U.S. official said the White House now believes 'Putin wants to end this because it's all too much… He's running out of meat for the meat grinder.'
Why it matters: Europe's refusal to back Iran strikes is now a tangible military liability: one U.S. Army brigade combat team has already left Poland, roughly 4,000 planned troops were canceled, and a six-month Pentagon review of remaining forces is underway. NATO allies face pressure to lift defense outlays toward 5% of GDP while simultaneously planning for a potential Russian conflict with diminished American firepower.
