United States President Donald Trump has declared he is \u201cvery disappointed with NATO\u201d on the first day of a summit of leaders of the mutual defence alliance in Turkiye that exposed tensions over European defence spending, the Russia-Ukraine war and the future of Greenland.<\/p>\n
Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for the summit along with other NATO leaders. The main session will be on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
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The summit comes at a fragile time for the 77-year-old alliance, which has seen Trump sow discord over Iran, Greenland and Washington\u2019s commitment to protecting fellow members.<\/p>\n
After criticising NATO allies during a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said that if the summit \u201cweren\u2019t held in Turkiye, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it\u2019s possible that I wouldn\u2019t have attended\u201d.<\/p>\n
Trump also named European countries who he perceived as unsupportive during the US-Israel war on Iran, saying, \u201cWe weren\u2019t treated well because we did something in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars when they\u2019re not there for us? We\u2019ve always been there for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cItaly turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down.\u201d<\/p>\n
The US president cast a brighter eye toward Ankara, remarking on the \u201cchemistry\u201d between the US and Turkiye, vowing to remove sanctions and saying he would soon decide<\/a> about the potential sale of F-35s.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a very good relationship,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Defence spending<\/p>\n Topping this year\u2019s NATO agenda is the pledge by members \u2013 in part spurred by pressure<\/a> from Trump \u2013 to increase their defence budgets.<\/p>\n But just five NATO members are projected to meet the alliance\u2019s goal of spending 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product on core defence in 2026, according to updated NATO data published before the summit.<\/p>\n That figure stems from an agreement reached in The Hague last year, which increased the spending goal on core items, such as weapons and soldiers, from a previous 2 percent.<\/p>\n Members also pledged to spend another 1.5 percent of GDP on broader defence-related items, such as boosting cybersecurity.<\/p>\n On the eve of the Ankara summit, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte demanded<\/a> \u201cclear, concrete and credible plans\u201d for defence spending while insisting the evidence so far was \u201cimpressive\u201d.<\/p>\n Delivering an address at a defence industry forum Tuesday, Rutte pointed to threats from China, North Korea and Iran \u2013 in addition to Russia, whose defence industry is \u201cworking around the clock\u201d to supply the war on Ukraine.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must remain vigilant,\u201d Rutte said. \u201cThese countries are increasingly working together.\u201d<\/p>\n Analyst Alexandru Hudisteanu told Al Jazeera that Trump\u2019s \u201caggressive\u201d approach is \u201cwaking up Europeans\u201d to the fact that they need to spend more.<\/p>\n Still, NATO data showed some members are still expected to spend only about 2 percent of GDP.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Not for sale\u2019<\/p>\n The US president also reignited tensions over Greenland, telling reporters the territory \u201cshould be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark\u201d.<\/p>\n