NATO leaders pose for a family photo during the NATO summit in Ankara, Türkiye on July 8, 2026.
Saul Loeb AFP | getty images
The Iran war has flared up again and the US may need European allies more than ever, but President Donald Trump left a NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday without announcing any new commitments from the defense alliance to aid in the conflict.
Instead he gave mixed signals about his feelings toward the military alliance during his two days in Ankara, at one point boasting of “tremendous unity” while at other points having harsh words for other countries’ hesitation to involve themselves in the Middle Eastern conflict.
“I’m not happy with NATO because they didn’t want to help us with Iran, the No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” he said during an appearance with NATO chief Mark Rutte. “They weren’t willing to help us.”
Trump left the summit with criticisms from his European counterparts at a time when their alliance could have been useful in ending the war with Iran that the US had escalated again during the summit. European heads of state used polite words publicly, even as Trump faced the press in bilateral meetings and at a press conference, upsetting them and leaving them questioning whether the US would come to their defense if they were attacked.
A geopolitics expert said that America would greatly benefit from international help in dealing with Iran.
“I think the president would do well to try to push leaders in Europe and the Persian Gulf to “do some damage to the Iranian economy,” Nicholas Burns, a Harvard University professor and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The White House, asked by CNBC to share what NATO agreed to regarding Iran during the summit, did not immediately respond.
NATO has been a common target of Trump’s soft words during both of his terms as president as he has pressured other member states to increase their defense spending.
Trump has repeatedly said that the US doesn’t really need any help from NATO, but he has asked for aid from Iran as a loyalty test.
“I was actually testing, I wanted to see if they would be there or not,” Trump said with Rutte on Wednesday. He said he had spoken with several NATO members, including Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Trump’s NATO needs and problems
The statement that NATO members failed his Iran “test” fits with Trump’s continued criticism that the alliance is a raw deal to the US, and that its members have shown insufficient loyalty to the US.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to reduce the US military presence in Europe, and did so again this week – despite Russia’s continued threats against Ukraine and its other neighbors – and he has flirted with the possibility of that. pulling America out A complete breakdown of the 77 year old alliance.
NATO leaders, particularly Rutte, continue to talk flatteringly about Trump and the US, which is by far the most powerful member in the alliance. America’s continued buy-in is vital to the group’s power, particularly when it comes to the effectiveness of Article 5, its commitment that an attack on one state will be considered an attack on all of them.
Rutte told Trump on Wednesday, “I know you’re frustrated over Iran.
He said thousands of US planes took off from European airports in support of Trump’s military strike against Iran. “Europe was a great platform for power projection for the United States,” he said.
When Trump was asked in the press conference whether European countries feuding with America could count on its support even if they were attacked, he did not give a direct answer.
“They didn’t help us. We didn’t need help, but if we needed help we would have,” he said.
Trump also expressed the possibility of withdrawing all approximately 68,000 American soldiers Based in Europe, that figure has already declined since Trump began his second term as president.
“We can get all our troops out of Europe,” Trump said Tuesday, complaining that “despite all the money we spend with Russia to help them, their desire to acquire Greenland has failed.”
Europe’s lesson on Trump
European leaders told CNBC they view the president’s warning to withdraw troops as an empty threat.
Polish President Karol Nawrocki told CNBC that “I am sure that American troops will remain in Poland…With Polish troops, we will secure Central-Eastern Europe and NATO’s borders.”
“President Trump is a great friend of the Republic of Poland,” Nawrocki said. “We have about 10,000 American troops in Poland. We would like to establish a permanent camp for American troops in Poland.”
“I don’t think the US will withdraw all its troops from Europe,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Storey told CNBC.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michael was confident of US support in Europe, telling CNBC Steve Sedgwick said Trump “has spoken strongly enough on Russian incidents that, if asked, he would oppose the Baltics and Poland.”
Tensions over defense spending were the most anticipated point of contention for this NATO summit, and European leaders were ready with their comments. While some acknowledged that spending increased due to US pressure, others said it was the threat from Russia that increased their spending.
Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said, “Americans, we have heard them loud and clear, take greater responsibility for our own defense, that means in time of war, in time of peace and in planning.”
“There should be a club, and it should be called the 5% club,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda told CNBC, in reference to the percentage of GDP to which each NATO nation is committed.