US President Donald Trump. Photo: Getty Images
CNN: Trump arrives at NATO Summit in sour mood as officials fear clashes
US President Donald Trump travelled to the NATO summit in Ankara in a sour mood, and there is growing uncertainty over whether the gathering of allied leaders will proceed without major tensions.
Ukrainska Pravda
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US President Donald Trump travelled to the NATO summit in Ankara in a sour mood, and there is growing uncertainty over whether the gathering of allied leaders will proceed without major tensions.
Source: European Pravda, citing CNN
Details: According to CNN, Trump, who has never shown much enthusiasm for US commitments to Europe's defence, has become even more sceptical over the past 12 months. He argues that America's longest-standing allies failed to support the United States when he needed them after the outbreak of the war with Iran.
Trump has never explicitly ruled out attempting to withdraw the United States from NATO and has repeatedly questioned the alliance's value to Washington, arguing that the US bears the burden of guaranteeing Europe's security.
He has also threatened to seize Greenland from fellow NATO member Denmark and has periodically expressed admiration for Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, whom some European officials fear could be planning operations on NATO territory.
According to the report, this has created a tense atmosphere ahead of the summit in Ankara, which Trump himself said he was attending with great reluctance.
During a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month, Trump said he was attending only because the summit was being hosted in the Turkish capital by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whom he considers a friend.
A source familiar with the matter told CNN that Trump and his team were privately made aware that skipping the summit would be viewed as a sign of disrespect towards Erdoğan.
European leaders hope to conclude the Ankara meeting without major disputes and are preparing new defence commitments in an effort to ease Trump's frustrations. Rutte also sought to smooth over differences during his June visit to the White House.
However, in private conversations over the past week, many officials admitted they could not be certain the summit would proceed smoothly given the US president's gloomy mood.
Behind closed doors, Trump has angrily complained about what he sees as NATO's lack of support, and that rhetoric has increasingly spilled over into his public remarks.
Trump's disagreements with European leaders did not derail last month's G7 summit in France. On the contrary, encouraged by what he viewed as positive progress in negotiations over Iran, he appeared to be on good terms even with leaders he had sharply criticised in previous months.
However, shortly after leaving the summit, he reignited a dispute with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, claiming she had begged him to pose for a photograph.
Meloni accused Trump of fabricating the story, but rather than allowing tensions to subside, he said on Sunday that he needed a restraining order against her.
One US official said the strained relationship between the two leaders, who were once considered close allies, adds another layer of uncertainty to the NATO summit.
Officials hope that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte's strategy of flattering Trump – which proved effective at last year's summit in The Hague – will work again this year.
Many European officials, however, regard that as wishful thinking.
According to media reports, NATO allies hope to avoid clashes with Trump during the summit in Ankara by announcing new defence spending commitments and agreements, while also extending him an especially warm welcome.
Background:
Earlier reports also suggested that preparations for NATO's 2027 summit in Tirana have run into difficulties because the US administration is dissatisfied with Albania's level of defence spending.
Uncertainty surrounding the future of the Alliance's summit in Albania also grew after Reuters reported in April that NATO was considering ending its recent practice of holding annual summits – a move that could help avoid a potentially tense meeting with Trump towards the end of his term.
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