Arriving in Turkey on Tuesday for the NATO summit, US President Donald Trump once again criticised European members of the alliance, saying they failed to support the United States during its conflict with Iran.
“Italy rejected us, Germany rejected us and France rejected us,” Trump said during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Speaking to reporters at the start of the meeting, Trump was asked whether he was satisfied with the progress made by European allies in increasing their defence spending, a longstanding demand of his.
“I was very disappointed with NATO and, frankly, if the summit were not being held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very dynamic man, I probably would not have attended,” Trump said, referring to Erdoğan.
He added that the United States had not been “treated well because of something we did in Iran”, repeating his complaint that Washington's allies did not provide support during the conflict in the Middle East.
While stressing, as he has many times in the past, that the United States “doesn't need anybody else”, Trump questioned why America has invested “trillions of dollars in NATO” to protect Europe from Russia without receiving anything in return.
“In a way, I was testing people. I was testing to see whether they would stand by us or not, because I have long said that we help them, but I'm not sure they would stand by us,” Trump added, specifically mentioning Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
Turkey and the F‑35 programme
On one of Ankara's key priorities, the acquisition of F‑35 fighter jets, Trump said he would lift sanctions imposed on Turkey and then decide whether to approve a potential sale of the aircraft.
In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) following Ankara's acquisition of the Russian-made S‑400 air defence system. Turkey was also removed from the F‑35 fighter jet programme, a move Ankara described as unjust and unlawful.
For his part, Erdoğan said he hopes for a positive outcome regarding Turkey's request to purchase F‑35s, adding that Trump had previously promised to provide five aircraft to the NATO ally and that “he always keeps his promises”.
Ukraine also discussed
The two leaders also discussed trade, defence cooperation and the war in Ukraine.
On Ukraine, Trump said he had held telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressing hope that the war would be resolved soon.
Zelenskyy and Trump are expected to meet at the NATO summit, as Ukraine has intensified attacks on Russia's energy sector in recent months, while large-scale Russian strikes have killed 50 people in Kyiv in July alone.
