The US accused its allies of being“Terrible”, Denmark vowed to defend“Every inch” and the NATO summit highlighted the transatlantic divide
“Spain is beyond help and we don’t want to do any more trade with Spain,” US President Donald Trump announced at a NATO summit in Ankara on Sunday, it will stop all trade with Spain because of bitter disputes over Spanish defence spending and issues related to the us-iran conflict. Defense spending, Greenland … “New accounts” stack“Old accounts”, let the rift between the United States and Europe deepen, also make this NATO summit full of“Smell of gunpowder”. Foreign media commented that the summit started with Trump’s dissatisfaction, and the atmosphere of unity carefully created by this key meeting was completely gone.
Hopes for a“Softer approach” from Trump at this year’s summit have been dashed, CNN reported Wednesday. On his arrival in Turkey on Thursday, Trump complained that he was“Very disappointed with NATO”. Later in the agenda, he expressed dissatisfaction with Europe’s performance in the U. S.-iraq conflict, defense spending and other issues.
Spain has become Trump’s number one target for its apparent refusal to increase military spending and to allow the US to use its military bases in a conflict with Iran. Trump issued a stark and tough threat to Spain on Thursday, the Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported. He called Spain“A terrible ally”, adding that the country was“Beyond help” and had even“Directly ordered that all trade with the country be cut off immediately” at the press conference. Western media said that the attack took place before Trump and Spanish Prime Minister Alexis Sanchez met, extremely strong words, is completely self-initiated.
Spanish prime minister Alexis Sanchez speaks during a news conference at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8.
Trump also criticized countries like Britain and Italy for much the same reasons he criticized Spain, both of which are reluctant to help the United States in the iran-u.s. conflict.
Trump said the allies were“Not good for us” and“Before I asked, they said they wouldn’t go, and we’ve invested trillions of dollars in NATO.” But he also reiterated that, he neither needs nor wants their help.
Europe responds to Trump’s challenge. Agence france-presse reported that Spanish government sources had said the country was“Calm and collected” about Trump’s threats. “Our country has excellent social, cultural and economic relations with the United States and we have no intention of changing that,” the source said. CNN quoted a spokesman as saying that the United States enjoys a trade surplus with Spain, this means that it is in fact the US that benefits most from a bilateral trade relationship; moreover, as an EU member, it is“Not possible” for Spain to be singled out for trade measures.
A spokesman for the European Commission said on Wednesday that the EU would“Always ensure” that member states’ interests were“Fully protected,” AFP reported.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Frederiksen said on the 8th that his country’s position is as clear as ever that Greenland is“Not for sale”. She also said Denmark was prepared to defend“Every inch of NATO”, including the Arctic island, if attacked. A spokesman for the European Union also voiced support for Denmark, saying the future of Greenland should be decided by both Greenlanders and Danes.
The renewed attacks by the US and Iran on each other during the NATO summit and Trump’s comments on its concerns have diluted one of the original focus points of the summit, which was the demonstration of improved European defence capabilities.
At last year’s NATO summit, at Trump’s request, allies agreed to spend 3.5 per cent of their annual gross domestic product on traditional defence by 2035 at the latest. On Tuesday, NATO said that core defence spending in Europe and Canada increased by 11 per cent in 2026.
In addition, NATO leaders also announced 7 in Turkey worth tens of billions of dollars in arms orders, involving anti-drone capacity-building, drone procurement. These arms purchase plans include the purchase by Denmark, Finland, Germany, and Norway of the U.S. company northrop-grumman’s“Mermaid Poseidon” drone, the 11 NATO members will also purchase the Swedish company Saab’s“Global Eye” early warning aircraft. Britain also plans to unveil an arms-purchase initiative at the summit, investing more than $50 billion with 12 European nations, including France and Germany, to develop long-range precision weapons to strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities.
NATO leaders are trying to send a message that they are heeding U.S. calls to spend more to defend Europe by announcing huge arms deals, Reuters said.
Yet something has happened that worries Europe, and the US, far from being satisfied, keeps belittling NATO. According to Bloomberg, NATO is considering canceling its annual summit next year, in part because it wants to reduce confrontation with Trump, it also avoids drawing attention to its host, Albania, one of NATO’s lowest defence-spending countries. Reuters said NATO had hoped to show unity after a difficult year, but the war in Iraq and the US had once again exposed cracks in an alliance that has underpinned Western security since the end of the Second World War.