Ankara (AFP) – US President Donald Trump offered NATO allies an unexpected warm embrace as they wrapped up a key summit Wednesday after earlier lashing out at them over their response to his war on Iran. It was an abrupt swing from antagonism to affection within the space of a few short hours, illustrating the wide range of emotions exhibited by the mercurial US leader.
“It was a great meeting, there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity,” Trump told reporters after the closed-door meeting of 32 heads of state at the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara. Behind closed doors, Trump had reassured them he wanted the US to stay in the military alliance, saying: “We want to remain with you,” a source inside the session told AFP. And that was reflected in the final declaration in which NATO leaders reaffirmed their “ironclad commitment” to the mutual assistance clause enshrined in Article 5 of the alliance treaty. “An attack on one is an attack on all,” it said, in wording that sought to ease concerns about Washington’s commitment to the alliance.
But the day had not begun well with Trump lashing out over NATO allies’ failure to back his Iran campaign just before the session, threatening to cut trade with Spain, and insisting he still wants NATO member Denmark’s territory of Greenland. “I’m very upset with NATO…because of what they did with Greenland, and…because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran,” he said.
– Bark worse than bite –
But once he came face-to-face with the leaders behind closed doors, his tone changed markedly, according to the source who attended the talks. “There is a strong contrast between what Trump says in public and what he actually says inside,” he told AFP. He also dialed down his earlier rhetoric on Iran — in which he described them as “scum” and “vicious, violent people” — with his remarks on the matter “not as harsh,” the source said. And he made no further mention of Spain or Greenland.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal agreed that Trump’s tone in the session was more moderated, telling AFP he had given a “kind of constructive message…that Europe must step up, invest more in defence.” “So it was kind of a good mood with sort of constructive messages,” he said. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said Trump’s outbursts should not necessarily be read as a sign of the alliance fragmenting. “I wouldn’t see in it an indicator that we are somehow weakening NATO, and that the transatlantic bond is not there,” he told AFP. “I think we should dramatise things less.”
– Boost for Ukraine –
Stalled efforts to halt the Ukraine war were also back on the agenda, with Trump pledging to give Kyiv “the right to make” Patriot air-defence missiles as he went into talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the summit. “We’re going to give a licence to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty cool, right,” Trump told Zelensky, whose forces have been struggling to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles as supplies of crucial US-made Patriot interceptors run low. Despite Moscow’s heavy bombardments in recent days, Kyiv appears to be turning the tide by stabilising the front line and conducting strikes deep into Russia — strikes that Trump said could help end the war. “It’s an escalation, but it’s also an escalation that can help lead to an end,” he added, repeating his belief that both Zelensky and Russia’s Vladimir Putin wanted to strike a deal to halt the fighting.
Also in the final NATO declaration, Europe and Canada pledged to keep military support flowing to Ukraine to the tune of 70 billion euros ($80 billion) a year in both 2026 and 2027. Before leaving Ankara, Trump was also set to hold talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he seeks to rebuild the country’s international image as it emerges from years of civil war.
– ‘A big win for Trump’ –
The summit comes at a fraught time for the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance, with Trump demanding members make good on a pledge to ramp up defence spending as Washington takes a step back from Europe. Keen to avoid a new confrontation with Trump, NATO allies unveiled tens of billions in new arms contracts on Tuesday in a bid to prove they were making good on a pledge to hike defence spending. NATO chief Mark Rutte insisted the alliance was emerging stronger from the summit in Turkey — despite the disagreements. “I always felt that families where sometimes you have a heart to heart and sometimes you fight each other a bit are much stronger,” he said.
© 2024 AFP
