Published On 7/3/2026
US President Donald Trump said that it is “ridiculous” that the United States continues its “unilateral” relationship with NATO.
“We did not find them when we needed them,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, Thursday, noting that Washington’s relationship with NATO “is not mutual.”
Trump’s statements come less than a week before a NATO summit in Ankara, and the US President is scheduled to join the summit after he strongly criticized their responses to his war with Iran.
Despite the conclusion of the agreement with Iran, the situation is still tense, and any escalation will quickly cast a shadow over the summit, as Trump previously described the alliance as a “paper tiger” in reference to his dissatisfaction with Europe’s reactions, when several countries restricted the use of American forces on their bases.
Will the summit succeed?
On Wednesday, the Permanent Representative of the United States to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, expressed his confidence that the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara will be “very successful.”
He pointed to the US President’s pledge to raise the proportion of defense spending among NATO allies to 5% of GDP, considering that the Ankara summit will be a “real measure of the progress achieved” in this framework.
Whittaker believes that the goal is to continue shifting the burden of traditional defense in Europe to NATO allies, stressing the need to increase defense spending.
He continued that the discussions will not be limited to spending only, but will include military capabilities, and that what is most important is not the amount of spending, but rather the type of capabilities that are acquired through it.
He added that these capabilities should support a shift in burden-sharing within Europe.
