In contrast to the opening meeting in Ankara, yesterday was a good — even excellent — day for President Donald Trump and NATO. And that means a bad day for Russia’s warmongering Vladimir Putin. Despite Trump’s prior criticism of some NATO nations’ “loyalty” when the U.S. and Israel initiated the war against Iran, he touted solidarity with, and commitment to, a more muscular alliance.
Some NATO nations have spent far too long refusing to invest sufficiently in defense, preferring to break the bank on entitlements. The Baltic countries and Poland are exceptions. They saw the threat from Russia much sooner than Germany, for example. But the tide has turned. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in stark contrast to former Chancellor Angela Merkel, readily admitted that Trump was right about Europe’s failures. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has repeatedly said, and continues to emphasize, that Europe and Canada have increased their defense spending, with investments averaging <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nato.int%2Fen%2Fnews-and-events%2Farticles%2Fnews%2F2026%2F07%2F08%2Fsecretary-general-on-the-ankara-summit-nato-delivers&amp;data=05%7C02%7Csdecosta%40hudson.org%7Cb00222ce57b94edfc0d508deddd3fb71%7Cce09670944264cb5b16053660d5b80e8%7C0%7C0%7C639192099693444347%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=5MRgOMuaPMLgdDgDvRjxMpWa6zDp6o6Qom7hEUAmbao%3D&amp;reserved=0">nearly 4%</a> of GDP. This progress has been made within a year of their initiative to reach Trump’s 5% GDP demand. This commitment has materialized in a range of defense weapons deals. And despite the president’s indefensible warnings about wanting to own Greenland, Denmark stands out as a strong ally, reaching nearly 4% of GDP and signing new weapons procurement <a href="https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-events/articles/news/2026/07/07/nato-expands-its-intelligence-surveillance-and-reconnaissance-fleet-with-the-purchase-of-triton-aircraft">agreements</a>.
European NATO nations have also stepped up and strengthened support for Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, easing the U.S.’s burden. Trump <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2026-07-08%2Ftrump-says-he-will-give-ukraine-license-to-make-patriot-missiles&amp;data=05%7C02%7Csdecosta%40hudson.org%7Cb00222ce57b94edfc0d508deddd3fb71%7Cce09670944264cb5b16053660d5b80e8%7C0%7C0%7C639192099693515987%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=S8UOjRMA%2BE63ovvgfMOMl%2FPz6N46M02NpMn0JFt1Er8%3D&amp;reserved=0">agreed</a> yesterday to authorize a license for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptors, giving Ukraine the ability to restore its critical air defense in light of increased Russian <a href="https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2026/07/06/ukraines-air-defences-failed-to-intercept-any-russian-ballistic-missiles-air-force-says">attacks</a> on Kyiv — a huge boost for the country. The authorization not only strengthens Ukraine’s war effort but also expands Patriot production for the United States following a period of rapid depletion in the war against Iran. Outside of the U.S. authorization, Ukraine managed to reach nine drone <a href="https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/2074543396996161846">deals</a> total with various European allies as well as Gulf partners as efforts to increase assistance and cooperation continue to develop. Allies further reaffirmed their united support with a pledge to provide at least <a href="https://www.nato.int/en/news-and-events/articles/news/2026/07/08/secretary-general-on-the-ankara-summit-nato-delivers">70</a> billion euros in military equipment, aid, and training for Ukraine this year and again next year.
Despite Trump’s claim that Europeans haven’t been loyal to the United States during Operation Epic Fury, they were vital to the U.S. operation. True, the U.K. initially denied U.S. use of the joint base at Diego Garcia, but this was brief. Throughout Epic Fury, the U.S. operated consistently from bases across the U.K., and the Brits helped with intelligence, logistics, and air defense for the Gulf States. As did the French. The U.S. had a tanker bridge, deploying nearly 100 tankers across eight allied nations. European politicians did not advertise the extent of aid because of how unpopular the United States is with their domestic audiences, especially after Trump’s threats to Greenland. Europe’s most conservative politicians — who are most amenable to American conservatives — even condemned Trump’s threats.
Still, Europe benefits from the U.S.-Israeli military operations to significantly weaken the Iranian regime, so leaders quietly authorized support. At the NATO summit, Trump and other NATO leaders have strengthened ties to openly facilitate cooperation on missions, including the safe movement of oil in the Strait of Hormuz. They agreed to facilitate a <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Flive-news%2Ftrump-iran-war-peace-ended-israel-hormuz-july-8%3Fmsockid%3D3e644995a539652200c65a01a438644d%23post-426db1f&amp;data=05%7C02%7Csdecosta%40hudson.org%7Cb00222ce57b94edfc0d508deddd3fb71%7Cce09670944264cb5b16053660d5b80e8%7C0%7C0%7C639192099693566475%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=vfIPfmpF5bQ%2B8PFu9KDvPvL57W%2B0YE9ueg5XlPFdiVI%3D&amp;reserved=0">joint operation</a> of minesweepers to de-mine the Strait in anticipation of Iranian efforts to deploy more mines (as the MOU continues to be tested and is on the brink of collapse). In response to Iranian violations in the Strait, NATO allies have expressed support for the United States’ action against Iran. Rutte <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Flive-updates%2Fus-iran-war-trump-says-ceasefire-over%2F%23post-update-89bf45c1&amp;data=05%7C02%7Csdecosta%40hudson.org%7Cb00222ce57b94edfc0d508deddd3fb71%7Cce09670944264cb5b16053660d5b80e8%7C0%7C0%7C639192099693578060%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=IOMyX6x8UDVKFDFAsYCRV1f201bTqm6%2F1uYZX82GJZM%3D&amp;reserved=0">defended</a> U.S. strikes against Iran last night with the following statement: “I think it was absolutely necessary because when you have a ceasefire and Iran is basically violating the ceasefire. . . I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react.”
This good news does not mean there are no challenges ahead. The president should let Secretary of State Marco Rubio work with the Kingdom of Denmark privately to ensure U.S. security concerns are addressed in Greenland. The Danes have been entirely cooperative and continue to stand out as reliable allies willing to do their part to enforce sanctions and keep the Chinese Communists from embedding in the High North. Ridiculing Denmark and threatening to take its territory only hurts Trump’s success in injecting energy and real, no-kidding defenses in Europe. Still, the summit was a success, and Trump does deserve credit for getting Europeans to take their defense seriously, which goes a long way for the president who wishes to be hailed for making peace.
***
Rebeccah L. Heinrichs is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and director of the Keystone Defense Initiative. She specializes in U.S. national defense policy with a focus on strategic deterrence.

2026 NATO Leaders Summit In Ankara

Trump’s Hardball With NATO Gets Results In Ankara

Ankara Summit

Defense Spending

DW Opinion

Foreign Policy

Iran war

NATO

President Trump

WASHINGTON — The only reason President Donald Trump is in Ankara, Turkey, for the NATO summit is his friendship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
That&#8217;s according to the president himself, who <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/article/793ea03f89ef?utm_source=chatgpt.com">told reporters</a> ahead of his visit, &#8220;If the summit was not taking place in Türkiye, I don&#8217;t think I would have gone to it. I&#8217;m going out of respect to President Erdoğan.&#8221;
The president is deeply frustrated with NATO and has criticized NATO for years, most notably since the war with Iran began, repeatedly calling out United States allies who wouldn&#8217;t support the operation against Iran.
Erdoğan, meanwhile, has consistently delivered on what Trump has asked for, and the president remains grateful.
“I was very disappointed with NATO, and frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended,” Trump said during a bilateral meeting with Erdoğan on Tuesday. “I felt I had to attend because of the fact that, you know, I know he’s gone all out.”
Erdoğan has been an “incredible partner in the region,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told The Daily Wire on Tuesday, describing the two leaders as having a “great relationship.&#8221;
Most recently, Trump <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-900436">says he personally called </a><a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-900436">Erdoğan</a> and asked him to stay out of the Iran war amid rumors that Turkey would assist Iran, given that Erdoğan is openly against Israel. Erdoğan agreed to Trump&#8217;s request, keeping Turkey neutral throughout the conflict despite regional pressure. 
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t need any help at all,&#8221; Trump said of the matter on Tuesday, &#8220;And in a way, I was testing people, I was testing to see whether or not they&#8217;d be there, because I&#8217;ve long said that we helped them, but I&#8217;m not sure that they&#8217;d be there for us. And Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it&#8217;s okay, but you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they&#8217;re not there for us? We&#8217;ve always been there for them.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_1129741" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-praises-turkeys-erdogan-for-his-friendship-highlighting-frustration-with-allies/u-s-president-trump-arrives-in-ankara-turkey-for-nato-summit-2" rel="attachment wp-att-1129741"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1129741" class="wp-image-1129741 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/07/GettyImages-2285073298.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>U.S. President Donald Trump (R) walks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a state arrival ceremony at the Bestepe Presidential Complex for the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
Erdoğan <a href="https://euromaidanpress.com/2025/10/09/reuters-turkeys-billion%E2%80%91dollar-gas-shift-could-collapse-russias-last-major-foothold-in-europe/">also agreed to huge liquefied natural gas</a> (LNG) procurement contracts with the United States as a business favor to President Trump in 2025, a move seen as an effort to curry favor with Trump and his new administration. The Turkish leader also pushed European and NATO allies to buy LNG in order to reduce trade deficits. 
Trump and Erdoğan <a href="https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-meeting-pastor-andrew-brunson/">came to an agreement</a> during Trump&#8217;s first term in office to release Pastor Andrew Brunson from captivity in Turkey — Brunson, an American evangelical pastor, had been accused of spying and terrorism and was detained in Turkey until Trump successfully negotiated his release in 2018. Trump specifically brought this up on Tuesday, noting that he was grateful for Brunson&#8217;s release.
And in 2019, Erdoğan twice conceded to requests from Trump: he backed off his threat to veto NATO&#8217;s plans to defend the Baltic states and Poland and allowed NATO&#8217;s defense plans to move forward after meeting privately with Trump. Erdoğan similarly fulfilled Trump&#8217;s request for Turkey to take over the U.S fight against ISIS in northern Syria.
Trump is now considering approving a sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. The sale would likely prove contentious since Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after the country purchased Russian S-400 air defense systems. That move prompted concerns that Russia would have access to sensitive information about the U.S. fighter jet.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the United States should not sell the jets to Turkey, saying that it would “upset the power balance” in the Middle East.
“I don’t think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets, because that&#8217;ll upset the power balance in the Middle East which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also by, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East,”  Netanyahu said on Fox &amp; Friends.
Erdoğan reminded reporters of President Trump&#8217;s promise on Tuesday. &#8220;I believe that President Trump also has made a promise on this separately, and during the meeting of the leaders&#8217; summit, we do hope that the promise that we have previously received is going to be productively tested towards the future. President Trump has always been a man of his word, and hopefully with respect to the F-35.&#8221;
During Tuesday&#8217;s bilateral, Trump said he has &#8220;good chemistry&#8221; with Erdoğan, adding, &#8220;we&#8217;ve had a very special relationship.&#8221; He noted that the two leaders would be discussing trade, the military, and Iran, noting of the F-35s, &#8220;It&#8217;s a decision we&#8217;re going to make. It&#8217;s a very good relationship.&#8221;
&#8220;Because of the relationship that we have, it&#8217;s all gone very well,&#8221; he added, &#8220;I want to say I have a lot of respect for the president.&#8221;

U.S. President Trump Arrives In Ankara, Turkey For NATO Summit

Trump Praises Turkey’s Erdogan For His Friendship, Highlighting Frustration With Allies

Donald Trump

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey

The last few years have tested the NATO alliance like few periods in its history. Divisions over burden-sharing, threat perceptions, and sharp disagreements on conflicts beyond Europe have strained the alliance. But America should not turn away from NATO. We need a strong, capable NATO more than ever — one that is modernized and reformed to meet today&#8217;s threats, not abandoned over the frustrations of the moment.
NATO has weathered deep divisions before. During the 1956 Suez Crisis, the United States strongly opposed the military actions of Britain and France in Egypt, exposing sharp transatlantic rifts and prompting European accusations of American unreliability. In the early 1960s, French President Charles de Gaulle, frustrated with American dominance, withdrew France from NATO&#8217;s integrated military command structure in 1966, ordered U.S. and NATO troops to leave French soil, and developed an independent French nuclear force. During the Vietnam era, there was strong European opposition to the war, with massive protests across the continent and open criticism from NATO governments. And in 2003, the alliance fractured bitterly over the Iraq War: France and Germany led the opposition, blocking NATO consensus on providing direct support to Turkey and prompting Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld&#8217;s famous distinction between &#8220;Old Europe&#8221; and &#8220;New Europe.&#8221;
But each time, predictions of NATO&#8217;s demise were proven wrong. The alliance endured — and emerged stronger — because its core strategic logic remains sound: American security depends on a secure Europe.
That logic was never clearer than in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. For the first time in its history, NATO invoked Article 5 — the collective defense clause — on behalf of the United States. European allies joined American forces in Afghanistan to dismantle al Qaeda and deny these terrorists a safe haven. More than 1,100 troops from NATO allies made the ultimate sacrifice in that conflict, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. forces. When our homeland was attacked, the NATO alliance came to America’s aid.
Recent tensions have been painful. I regret that many NATO states failed to support the United States and Israel during the 2026 war against Iran. Some went further, refusing to allow the use of NATO bases and facilities for American operations. This was a serious mistake that badly damaged trust and deepened divisions within the alliance. Allies should support one another when vital interests are at stake, not selectively opt out.
Critics of an open-ended U.S. commitment to NATO have made serious arguments that decades of American security guarantees have given Europe little incentive to invest seriously in its own defense, leaving European militaries plagued by fragmented procurement, duplicated systems, hollowed-out logistics, and critical shortfalls in airlift, air defense, and precision munitions — gaps that spending percentages alone cannot fix. Past efforts at reform, such as the 2014 Wales pledge, produced little until Russia&#8217;s 2022 invasion of Ukraine created an immediate threat to Europe, lending credence to the view that only a firm U.S. drawdown could force European capitals to invest sufficiently in their own defense. But this argument has a serious flaw: it assumes that a significant European buildup will automatically follow an American withdrawal, when in reality it could create dangerous gaps that Russia would exploit.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also has firmly rejected any notion that the alliance can move on without the United States. Speaking earlier this year, Rutte warned European leaders: &#8220;If anyone thinks here … that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the U.S., keep on dreaming. You can&#8217;t.&#8221; He emphasized that Europe would lose the vital U.S. nuclear umbrella and would need to more than double its defense spending to even approach strategic autonomy — goals that remain unrealistic in the near term.
Despite recent tensions in the alliance, real progress is being made. For the first time in NATO&#8217;s history, every one of its 32 members met or exceeded the 2% of GDP defense spending target in 2025 — a dramatic improvement from just three countries in 2014. In response to strong pressure from President Trump, European allies and Canada increased defense spending by 20% last year, bringing the collective total to more than $574 billion. NATO&#8217;s frontline states have gone even further: Poland reached 4.48% of GDP, while Lithuania and Latvia both exceeded 3.7%.
Our NATO allies did not stop at 2%: at the 2025 Hague Summit, members agreed to a far more ambitious target of 5% of GDP by 2035, with 3.5% dedicated to core military spending and the remaining 1.5% directed toward broader security-related infrastructure and civilian resilience. That commitment, if honored, would represent the most significant peacetime increase in allied defense investment in the alliance&#8217;s history. Many long-neglected NATO militaries are finally receiving major new investments in modern equipment, munitions stockpiles, and overall readiness.
Support for Ukraine has also broadened and deepened, with European states and Canada providing more total aid than the United States since the Russian invasion began and committing billions more through mechanisms such as the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). These steps matter because a stronger European security pillar reduces the burden on U.S. forces and makes the alliance more resilient.
And let&#8217;s be clear: the United States is not pulling out of NATO or Europe. At the Munich Security Conference in February, Secretary of State Marco Rubio made this explicit, declaring that &#8220;America is not retreating but reimagining and modernizing its relationship with the alliance.&#8221; Polls consistently show broad support among the American public for NATO, and Congress has repeatedly reaffirmed that commitment with overwhelming bipartisan margins. There is simply no realistic path toward withdrawal.
What must change is the NATO distribution of labor. European NATO members need to take primary responsibility for defending their region against Russia. At the same time, the United States must reposition some of its forces to address urgent security challenges in other areas of the globe — in the Western Hemisphere and to deter China and North Korea in the Indo-Pacific. America cannot be everywhere at full strength simultaneously. A capable Europe frees American resources to focus on priorities only Washington can fully address.
Far from obsolete, NATO today is stronger than it has been in decades, serving as a bulwark against Russian aggression. Ukraine&#8217;s recent battlefield gains, including the effective use of long-range drones that have struck Moscow, St. Petersburg, and crucial oil refiners across Russia, would have been impossible without the sustained training, intelligence, equipment, and logistical support provided through the NATO framework. That backstop has imposed real costs on Moscow while demonstrating the alliance&#8217;s value in deterring wider war.
The United States and Europe must redouble their efforts to strengthen and modernize the alliance. The Trump administration should continue pressing NATO members on defense spending targets and capability gaps. European members need to build credible conventional forces, expand munitions stockpiles, and revitalize their defense industrial bases. Together, both sides of the Atlantic should update NATO’s command structures, accelerate the integration of emerging technologies, and establish clearer divisions of responsibility for out-of-area contingencies.
This work will be put to the test at the NATO Summit in Ankara next week, NATO’s first gathering in Turkey since the landmark 2004 Istanbul summit. Secretary General Rutte has signaled that alliance members will use the summit to announce tens of billions of dollars in new defense industrial contracts and to press European members to make their 5%-by-2035 pledge a binding commitment rather than an aspirational target.
The Ankara summit&#8217;s opening day will be a “Defense Industry Forum” aimed at addressing the fragmentation, bureaucracy, and slow pace of production that have long hampered European arms production. How NATO members handle Ankara, whether they agree to concrete procurement deals and a roadmap for closing Europe&#8217;s capability gaps, or leave without agreement on many commitments, will say a lot about whether the new NATO reform is durable.
NATO has never been perfect. It has always required hard bargaining and mutual compromise. But in a world of growing threats, this transatlantic alliance remains America&#8217;s most valuable force multiplier. A stronger, fairer, more capable NATO serves U.S. interests, protects shared democratic values, and can deter conflicts.
This is no time for America to walk away from the crucial NATO alliance. It is time to renew and reinforce this alliance that has kept the peace in Europe for three-quarters of a century.
***
Fred Fleitz previously served as Chief of Staff of the Trump National Security Council. He is the author of North Korea, Nuclear Brinkmanship, and the Oval Office, which was just released by Texas A&amp;M Press.

SWEDEN-NATO-DIPLOMACY-DEFENCE

Why America Needs to Strengthen, Not Withdraw, from NATO

Europe

(Reuters) — NATO accused Moscow on Friday of reckless behavior and pledged to &#8220;defend every inch of Allied territory&#8221; after Romania said a Russian drone had crashed into a civilian apartment block in the alliance member state during an attack on neighboring Ukraine.
Romania&#8217;s defense ministry said a woman and a child suffered minor injuries in Galati near the border with Ukraine overnight after radar tracked a Russian drone entering Romanian airspace.
Photos from the scene showed charred and damaged brickwork on the roof of the 10-story apartment block which Romanian authorities said was hit by a drone that exploded on impact, tearing through a top-floor flat.
Russia&#8217;s TASS news agency cited Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the incident.
<div id="attachment_1104439" style="width: 857px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104439" class="size-large wp-image-1104439" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T065911Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0DZ_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-1-847x576.jpg" alt="" width="847" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T065911Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0DZ_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-1-847x576.jpg 847w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T065911Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0DZ_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-1-300x204.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T065911Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0DZ_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-1-768x522.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T065911Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0DZ_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-1.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 847px) 100vw, 847px" />A Romanian law enforcement officer works on the site of an explosion at a residential block of flats following a drone hit close to the border with Ukraine, in Galati, Romania, May 29, 2026. Inquam Photos/George Calin via REUTERS</div>
Separately, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair of Russia&#8217;s powerful Security Council, warned European leaders that drones would continue to stray into their countries and prevent their populations from sleeping peacefully.
It was the first time a densely populated area in a NATO country had been hit causing injuries during Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine, and the incident is likely to increase tensions on the alliance&#8217;s eastern flank as member states worry about the war spilling over their borders.
&#8220;Russia’s reckless behavior is a danger to us all,&#8221; NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said on X after speaking by phone to Romanian President Nicusor Dan, whose country is in both the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union.
&#8220;I affirmed that NATO stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory,&#8221; he said, without making any mention of triggering NATO&#8216;s mutual defense clause. &#8220;We will continue to enhance our readiness to deter and defend against any threat, including from drones.&#8221;
Dan said the Russian consulate in the southeastern city of Constanta would be closed and the consul expelled.
TASS quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying Moscow would respond swiftly to Bucharest&#8217;s decision to close the consulate.
Romania, which shares a 400-mile land border with Ukraine, said Russian drones had breached its airspace 28 times since Moscow began attacking Ukrainian ports across the Danube River following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Stephen Evelyn, a 44-year-old American citizen who lives in Galati, called it &#8220;another provocation by the Russians&#8221;.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe this was an accident, this has happened too many times for the Russians to be doing this by accident,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Either that or they&#8217;re highly incompetent at waging war, but NATO needs to do something about this.&#8221;
There have been multiple airspace incursions into NATO airspace since Moscow invaded Ukraine, most notably when more than 20 Russian drones entered Poland&#8217;s airspace on the night of September 9-10.
In recent weeks Ukrainian drones have strayed into Baltic countries&#8217; airspace, sowing confusion and raising tensions with Russia.
Romania has asked NATO allies to deploy additional anti-drone capabilities to Romania, with official sources saying Bucharest needs low-altitude radars and interceptor drones. A NATO spokesperson said on Friday &#8220;potential additional defensive measures are considered.&#8221;
Local authorities in southern Ukraine said Izmail port in the Odesa region, across the border from Galati, had come under attack from drones early on Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was ready to support Romania &#8220;in whatever way is necessary&#8221;.
<div id="attachment_1104441" style="width: 659px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1104441" class="size-large wp-image-1104441" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T054159Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0AI_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-649x576.jpg" alt="" width="649" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T054159Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0AI_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-649x576.jpg 649w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T054159Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0AI_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-300x266.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T054159Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0AI_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES-768x682.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/2026-05-29T054159Z_1_LYNXMPEM4S0AI_RTROPTP_4_UKRAINE-CRISIS-ROMANIA-DRONES.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px" />A fire burns on the roof of a 10-story block of flats after a drone crashed into the building, causing an explosion and injuring two people, near the border with Ukraine, in Galati, Romania, in this handout image released on May 29, 2026. Romanian Department for Emergency Situations (DSU)/Handout via REUTERS</div>
The Romanian defense ministry said two F-16 fighter jets had been scrambled and a military helicopter was sent to monitor the attack, with the pilots authorized to shoot down any drones without endangering inhabited areas. The residents of border counties Braila, Galati and Tulcea were warned to take cover.
The drone was in Romania&#8217;s airspace for four minutes and flew at a low altitude for 6.2 miles, making it difficult for radar to detect, Romanian Brigadier General Gheorghe Maxim said.
He told a press conference that although the U.S. anti-drone system Merops is operational in Romania it is not yet fully integrated with national air defenses and it would have been too risky to use in a city.
In addition to the woman and her child who were taken to hospital with minor injuries, two people were treated on the scene for panic attacks and 70 were evacuated from the apartment block, local authorities said.
Deputy Interior Minister Raed Arafat, who is in charge of the emergency response agency, told private broadcaster Digi24 that the drone affected two building stairwells, an elevator shaft and damaged five cars.
A drone also damaged an electricity pole and a household annex in Galati in April.
In a separate incident, a drone without an explosive charge was found in northwestern Romania, state TVR broadcaster said late on Thursday, citing local authorities.
(Reporting by George Calin in Galati, Luiza Ilie in Bucharest, Jekaterina Golubkova in Tokyo, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz and Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk in Warsaw, Jason Hovet in Prague and Lily Bayer in Brussels; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Kate Mayberry and Timothy Heritage)

ROMANIA-NATO-DEFENCE-EXERCISE

NATO Sends Clear Message To Russia After Attack On Member Nation

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

The remains of one of two U.S. Army soldiers who disappeared during “African Lion” military exercises in Morocco have been recovered after an intensive week-long multinational search operation, military officials confirmed Sunday.
The soldier was identified as Kendrick Lamont Key Jr., a 27-year-old 1st Lieutenant from Richmond, Virginia, who served as an Air Defense Artillery officer assigned to Charlie Battery, 5th Battalion, 4th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command.
<a href="https://nypost.com/2026/05/03/world-news/2-us-troops-missing-during-africa-lion-training-exercises-in-morocco/">According</a> to The New York Post, Key and another unidentified soldier vanished on May 2 during a recreational hike near the Cap Draa Training Area outside Tan-Tan, Morocco, hours after participating in the annual African Lion multinational war games exercise.
Officials said the two soldiers were seen near ocean cliffs before they reportedly plunged into the Atlantic Ocean. “A Moroccan military search team found the Soldier in the water along the shoreline at approximately 8:55 a.m. local time May 9, within roughly one mile of where both Soldiers reportedly entered the ocean,” U.S. Army Europe and Africa said in a <a href="https://www.europeafrica.army.mil/ArticleViewPressRelease/Article/4482802/press-release-us-army-recovers-identifies-one-soldier-near-cap-draa-morocco-sea/">statement</a>.
The second soldier remains missing as search efforts continue.
The disappearance triggered a massive international rescue operation involving more than 600 personnel from the United States, Morocco, and allied partner nations participating in the exercises. The operation included helicopters, drones, frigates, maritime vessels, and ground search teams combing more than 12,000 square kilometers of shoreline and ocean over eight days.
African Lion 2026 is the largest annual U.S.-led military exercise on the African continent, involving more than 7,000 personnel from over 30 nations across Morocco, Tunisia, Ghana, and Senegal. The exercise is designed to strengthen military coordination and readiness between the United States and allied African and NATO partner nations.
Military officials said a U.S. contingent remains in Morocco even after the formal conclusion of the exercises Friday in order to continue search-and-rescue operations for the second missing soldier.
Before joining the military, Key earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Methodist University in North Carolina, with additional studies in international business, entrepreneurship, and business administration. He entered military service in 2023 as an officer candidate before receiving his commission as an Air Defense Artillery officer in 2024 after completing Officer Candidate School and the Basic Officer Leader Course at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
His military decorations include the Army Achievement Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
“On behalf of U.S. Africa Command, we extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of 1st Lt. Key and to the entire 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command family,” AFRICOM commander General Dagvin Anderson and Command Sergeant Major Garric Banfield said in a joint statement.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
“On behalf of U.S. Africa Command, we extend our deepest condolences to the loved ones of 1st Lt. Key and to the entire 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command family.”
&#8211; General Dagvin Anderson and Command Sergeant Major Garric Banfield<a href="https://t.co/f1ZxHptZAC">https://t.co/f1ZxHptZAC</a>
— U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) (@USAfricaCommand) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAfricaCommand/status/2053546300122001826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
The tragedy marks another deadly incident connected to the African Lion exercises, which began in 2004. In 2012, two U.S. Marines were killed and two others injured after a helicopter crash during the drills in Morocco.

Kendrick-Lamont-Key-c8396e

Body Of One Soldier Recovered After War Games Accident, One Still Missing

Africa

Military

U.S. Army

President Donald Trump has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany, scaling back America&#8217;s military presence in Europe to levels seen before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
“The Secretary of War has ordered the withdrawal of approximately 5,000 troops from Germany,” Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said. “This decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theater requirements and conditions on the ground. We expect the withdrawal to be completed over the next six to twelve months.”
The move comes after months of criticism from Trump, who has accused NATO allies of failing to support U.S. operations against the Iranian regime and efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which he says Europe relies on more heavily.
Trump has described the 32-member NATO alliance as a “paper tiger” and a “one-way street.”
He has also been in a public feud with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, accusing him of downplaying the threat posed by Iran and warning that such positions could have serious global consequences.
“The Chancellor of Germany… thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” Trump posted on social media on Tuesday, adding that if Iran obtained such a weapon, “the whole World would be held hostage.”
Merz had earlier accused Iran of stalling negotiations and humiliating the United States.
A senior Defense Department official told The Daily Wire that the troop reduction reflects the administration&#8217;s frustration with European allies.
“The Europeans have not stepped up when America needed them. This cannot be a one-way street,” a senior Department of War official told The Daily Wire. “The President has been very clear about his frustrations about our allies’ rhetoric and failure to provide support for U.S. operations that benefit them.”
The official added that the president is directly reacting to German rhetoric, which has been “inappropriate and unhelpful.”
The withdrawal will primarily affect a brigade combat team and other forces stationed in Germany. It also halts a planned deployment of a long-range fires battalion that had been scheduled to arrive later this year under a Biden-era plan.
Officials said the directive takes effect immediately, though details about the specific units and movement timelines remain limited.
 The decision is part of a broader strategic realignment focused on the homeland, Western Hemisphere, and Indo-Pacific, while restoring readiness across the military, particularly within the Army.
It would also bring U.S. troop levels in Europe closer to pre-2022 levels, before forces surged in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a buildup, officials emphasized, that was always intended to be temporary.
“The President’s decision also sends a very clear signal about how important it is for Germany and other allies to take primary responsibility for Europe’s defense,” the official said.
&nbsp;

NATO Summit In The Hague Final Day

Trump Pulls Troops From Europe And Sends ‘Allies’ Blunt Message: It’s A Two-Way Street

Germany

Operation Epic Fury

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday tried to downplay his viral description of President Donald Trump as &#8220;daddy&#8221; as a &#8220;language problem.&#8221;
Rutte, 59, set off a wave of memes during a June 2025 presser in The Hague when he used the term to praise Trump&#8217;s negotiating and foreign policy tactics.
The former Dutch prime minister used the affectionate phrase soon after Trump lashed out at Israel and Iran following their 12-day conflict, saying the two countries &#8220;don&#8217;t know what the f*ck they&#8217;re doing.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Trump is PISSED about the ceasefire violations.
&#8220;We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don&#8217;t know what the f*** they&#8217;re doing.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/DVGHuUP3Oj">pic.twitter.com/DVGHuUP3Oj</a>
— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) <a href="https://twitter.com/KassyAkiva/status/1937475590996775362?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
Rutte, sitting next to the president, said at the time, &#8220;Daddy has to sometimes use strong language.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said &#8220;daddy has to sometimes use strong language&#8221; on Wednesday, referring to comments made by President Trump about Iran and Israel fighting.
Read more: <a href="https://t.co/pIyCLeXNO8">https://t.co/pIyCLeXNO8</a> <a href="https://t.co/91oWCuOgf8">pic.twitter.com/91oWCuOgf8</a>
— ABC News (@ABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1937890485189718135?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
Hours later at the NATO Summit, Secretary of State Marco Rubio laughed as an international reporter asked Trump how he felt being called &#8220;daddy.&#8221;
&#8220;I think he likes me,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;If he doesn&#8217;t, I&#8217;ll let you know. I&#8217;ll come back and hit him hard.&#8221;
&#8220;He did it very affectionately. &#8216;Daddy — you’re my daddy.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Marco Rubio laughs as a reporter asks Trump how it felt being called “daddy” by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte <a href="https://t.co/aKBWjy8n5B">pic.twitter.com/aKBWjy8n5B</a>
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1937898294870413654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
Asked again Thursday whether he still considered the commander-in-chief &#8220;daddy,&#8221; Rutte attributed the remark to a language barrier.
“I have to explain to you, because it follows me a little bit,” Rutte said at Washington’s Ronald Reagan Institute forum. “In Dutch, you would say, ‘Hey, the translation of your father is daddy.’ And I would say, ‘Hey, yeah, sometimes daddy has to be angry. So I was not calling him my daddy. But of course, daddy has also a special connotation, and I now have to live with this for the rest of my life.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Q: &#8220;Do you still consider [President Trump] &#8216;daddy&#8217; after yesterday?&#8221; 
<a href="https://twitter.com/SecGenNATO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecGenNATO</a> Mark Rutte: &#8220;I was not calling him my daddy, but saying—but of course, &#8216;daddy&#8217; has also a special connotation, and I have to stay with this for the rest of my life.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/sV37k00z8y">pic.twitter.com/sV37k00z8y</a>
— CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/2042271255018021220?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2026</a></blockquote>
Rutte struck a lighter tone as well, noting Trump had leaned into the moment.
&#8220;And I own it. The president owns it, because he brought out t-shirts, he made a movie, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/daddys-home-team-trump-embraces-nato-leaders-remarks-with-new-merch">Daddy is Home,</a> when he returned to the United States, it was so funny,&#8221; Rutte said. &#8220;This is why I like him so much.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 “DADDY” MERCH OUT NOW!<a href="https://t.co/YAxVOAdj8y">https://t.co/YAxVOAdj8y</a> <a href="https://t.co/08PnAHhtFX">pic.twitter.com/08PnAHhtFX</a>
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1938241270255915189?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>

Donald Trump/Mark Rutte

NATO Chief Explains Trump ‘Daddy’ Comment And Admits It’s Not Going Away

White House

President Donald Trump raged Thursday morning that America&#8217;s allies fail to understand &#8220;anything unless they have pressure placed upon them,&#8221; once again taking aim at NATO after his meeting with the alliance&#8217;s secretary-general.
Trump targeted NATO in two social media posts shortly after his Wednesday meeting at the White House with NATO chief Mark Rutte, who traveled to Washington, D.C., following Trump&#8217;s renewed threats to pull the United States from the alliance.
&#8220;NATO WASN’T THERE WHEN WE NEEDED THEM, AND THEY WON’T BE THERE IF WE NEED THEM AGAIN,&#8221; Trump wrote in a social media <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116371693008302124">post</a> on Wednesday evening. &#8220;REMEMBER GREENLAND, THAT BIG, POORLY RUN, PIECE OF ICE!!!&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116374792489555954">ripped</a> NATO again Thursday morning, posting, &#8220;None of these people, including our own, very disappointing, NATO, understood anything unless they have pressure placed upon them!!!&#8221;
Trump&#8217;s frustration with NATO has been building for months, particularly after several alliance members pushed back on his idea to acquire Greenland. Tensions have intensified more recently as some allies have rejected the president&#8217;s calls to back U.S. efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Rutte met with Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday to discuss the alliance and Europe&#8217;s stance on the Iran war.
“He is clearly disappointed with many NATO allies, and I can see his point,” Rutte told CNN after the meeting.
Some NATO members — including the United Kingdom, France, and Spain — initially blocked U.S. aircraft from using their military bases for offensive strikes during &#8220;Operation Epic Fury.&#8221; The U.K. and France later allowed the United States limited use of bases for defensive purposes only, while Spain has remained a vocal opponent of the U.S. military operation.
&#8220;The large majority, including France, of European nations, has been doing what they committed they would do in a case like this,&#8221; Rutte said. &#8220;So Europe as a platform of power projection for the United States was in full play over the last six weeks. And yes, it is true that not all European nations lived up to those commitments, and I totally understand that [Trump] is disappointed about it.&#8221;
Rutte has been one of Trump&#8217;s biggest cheerleaders on the world stage in recent months and has repeatedly praised the U.S. president for forcing European nations to increase defense spending. The NATO secretary-general told CNN, &#8220;This was a meeting between friends because we like each other. I really admire his leadership &#8230; and NATO allies are with him when it comes to taking out, degrading the ballistic missile capacity of the Iranians.&#8221;
&#8220;The whole world is safer by this president degrading those capabilities,&#8221; Rutte added.
The United States is, by far, the largest financial supporter of NATO, covering more than 60% of the alliance&#8217;s defense spending, <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/trackers-and-data-visualizations/nato-defense-spending-tracker/#:~:text=United%20States%20$980%2C000%2C000%2C000%20NATO%20Europe,Kingdom%20France%20Italy%20Poland%20Spain">according</a> to the Atlantic Council. Last year, the United States spent roughly $980 billion on NATO&#8217;s defense.
Amid Trump&#8217;s pressure and repeated threats to withdraw from NATO, member states have ramped up their defense spending commitments. At last year&#8217;s NATO summit, allies agreed to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

Trump Signals A Continued Pressure Campaign On Allies After Meeting With NATO Chief

Iran

The New York Times got hit with a wave of backlash — and ultimately was forced to issue a correction — after Friday&#8217;s print edition included a headline replacing the word &#8220;Atlantic&#8221; in North Atlantic Treaty Organization with &#8220;American.&#8221;
POLITICO editor Sasha Issenburg drew attention to the flub, sharing a photo of the newspaper showing both the date and the erroneous headline, which read, &#8220;A North American Treaty Organization Without America?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Does the <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a> know what NATO stands for? <a href="https://t.co/wvD1WxPOnN">pic.twitter.com/wvD1WxPOnN</a>
— Sasha Issenberg (@sissenberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/sissenberg/status/2040078016576204989?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer weighed in on the paper&#8217;s mistake, noting that every headline published by The New York Times had to make it past multiple editors before going to print.
&#8220;The NYT should release the names of every editor who read this and did not correct it. They have multiple layers of editors, especially for the print publication. That’s what the NYT would demand when the government makes a bad mistake. They should live up to the same standard,&#8221; he said.
Former Trump administration official Richard Grenell pointed out that the piece&#8217;s author, Steven Erlanger, as the paper&#8217;s Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for Europe: &#8220;Yikes.&#8221;
President Trump even commented on the flub on Saturday morning, saying in a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116346654846871260">Truth Social post</a>, &#8220;The Failing New York Times, whose lack of credibility, and their constant Fake News attacks on your favorite President, ME, has caused its circulation to absolutely PLUMMET, referred to our severely weakened and extremely unreliable “partner,”NATO, as the North American Treaty Organization. The correct name is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization &#8211; A very interesting mistake! The hiring and educational standards have gone way down at the NYT. Bring back, “ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT” and, Make America Great Again!&#8221;
The article itself referenced President Donald Trump&#8217;s repeated threats to leave the organization over other nations — primarily in Europe — not providing monetary or military support when the United States is the one asking. Those threats have only accelerated as European allies have failed to answer calls for assistance with Operation Epic Fury in Iran.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/rubio-says-us-need-reexamine-nato-membership-allies-blocked-basing-airspace-help">equally critical</a> of NATO, saying in recent remarks that if the United States could not rely on NATO allies when help was needed.
&#8220;If now we have reached a point where the NATO alliance means that we can&#8217;t use those bases, that, in fact, that we can no longer use those bases to defend America&#8217;s interests, then NATO is a one-way street. Then NATO is simply about us having troops in Europe to defend Europe,&#8221; Rubio told Fox News host Sean Hannity, adding that it did not make strategic sense for the United States to remain in the organization if it was going to be so one-sided.
By Friday afternoon, the outlet <a href="https://x.com/NYTimesPR/status/2040142477215056082">issued a statement</a> promising a correction in Saturday&#8217;s print edition: &#8220;A correction will appear in tomorrow&#8217;s print edition: &#8216;A headline with an article on Friday about President Trump’s threats to leave NATO misstated the full name of the body. It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, not the North American Treaty Organization.'&#8221;

New York Times

New York Times Forced To Issue Correction After Wild Whiff On NATO

Marco Rubio

Media

Politics

The New York Times

Signaling a seismic shift in the post-WWII global order, President Donald Trump said he is &#8220;strongly considering&#8221; withdrawing the United States from NATO, delivering one of his clearest warnings that Washington may no longer be willing to underwrite European security without reciprocal support.
Delivered in a characteristically blunt interview with <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/04/01/donald-trump-strongly-considering-pulling-us-out-of-nato/">The Telegraph</a>, Trump argued the alliance has become a &#8220;one-way street,&#8221; with the United States expected to defend Europe while allies decline to support American operations.
The catalyst for this potential divorce is the refusal of European allies to support the U.S.-led effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz — a vital artery for 20% of the world’s oil — which has been temporarily shuttered by Tehran.
Asked whether he would reconsider U.S. membership after the war with Iran is over, Trump did not hedge.
“Oh yes, I would say beyond reconsideration,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was never swayed by NATO. I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way.”
Trump pointed directly to European reluctance to support efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for 20% of the world&#8217;s oil that has been shuttered by Iran, as evidence that the alliance is failing, and noted that while the United States has &#8220;automatically&#8221; stood by Europe, including in non-member states like Ukraine, the favor has not been returned.
&#8220;They weren’t there for us,&#8221; Trump remarked, specifically lambasting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for a lack of naval support.
Senior administration officials are now echoing the president&#8217;s frustration.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that continued U.S. participation in NATO cannot be taken for granted if allies expect protection while limiting American military flexibility.
&#8220;If NATO is just about us defending Europe if they’re attacked but then denying us basing rights when we need them, that’s not a very good arrangement,&#8221; he said.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth went further, arguing the war has exposed a fundamental imbalance.
&#8220;You don’t have much of an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,&#8221; Hegseth stated.
The statements point to a hardening of the administration&#8217;s NATO stance. Sources suggest the White House is eyeing a model that would block delinquent or uncooperative members from decision-making and is revisiting plans to withdraw troops from Germany.
As the U.S. and Israel continue air strikes against Iran’s nuclear program, the message from Washington is clear: the era of the American &#8220;blank check&#8221; for European security is over. If NATO will not serve as a platform for mutual security, President Trump appears ready to walk away from the table entirely.

President Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting

Trump Eyes Major NATO Shift After Allies Fail Key Test

Pete Hegseth

America&#8217;s allies are finally ready to step up to the plate after years of dithering on the Iranian threat.
Those allies are ready with all their combined strength: Germany, France, UK, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, and Japan. They are firing on all cylinders with urgency, resolve, and action.
Yes, that&#8217;s right. Our allies, who have been reliant on our largesse and mutual defense for decades, finally announced that they are going to help us, their patron state, the United States — with a very strongly-worded letter.
Our allies are doing what they do best. They are saying things.
At some point, the questions have to be asked: Who are our true allies? Who is actually stepping up to the plate? Who is merely judging from the sidelines?
In lieu of any real world support, our valiant allies have now issued a strongly worded letter.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2392-sub?elementPosition=1&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-974957" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp" alt="DailyWire+" width="1024" height="171" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1024x171.webp 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-300x50.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-768x128.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-1536x256.webp 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/511983dad25841c8b1ec058d75769bbe-2048x341.webp 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
Here&#8217;s what the letter says:
<blockquote>We condemn in the strongest terms, recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces. We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict.
We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines and drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the strait to commercial shipping and to comply with U.N. Security Council Resolution 28-17. We call for an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations. We call on all states to respect international law and uphold the fundamental principles of international prosperity and security.</blockquote>
Whoa, dude. Harsh stuff.
Iran must be quaking in its boots. Our allies are saying things.
The Europeans, Japan? They&#8217;re expressing “deep concern.” Not “regular” concern. “Deep” concern. They are calling on Iran to do things and to stop being so mean.
But wait, isn&#8217;t there some sort of commitment to action in the letter?
The statement does say this: “We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure a safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.”
That sounds good, right? But what does “appropriate efforts” mean? Who decides what is “appropriate?”
According to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/03/19/strait-hormuz-coalition-allies-statement-uk">Axios</a>, “On Thursday morning, NATO head Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and convinced him to lift his opposition to the political statement of support, while leaving the discussion on the practical steps for later.”
Now, to be fair to Rutte, there&#8217;s not much he can do. He&#8217;s the head of NATO, but he can&#8217;t simply deploy force. He certainly recognizes the Iranian threat, and he would like to avoid alienating the United States.
He said, “We all agree, as we always did, that it was crucial for Iran not to get its hands on a nuclear capability, a ballistic missile capability. And what the U.S. is doing at the moment is degrading that capability of Iran. And I think that&#8217;s very important. This is important for European security, for the Middle East. It is vital for Israel itself.”
 The Japanese are also paying lip service here; the Japanese prime minister told President Trump, “I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world,” adding they would “reach out to many of the partners in the international community, to achieve our objective together.”
So what are our allies actually committing to?
Nothing. This sort of stupidity is nothing new for our allies, who are quite fond of empty verbiage as a substitute for credible threat of force.
Go all the way back to 1919, when the covenant of the League of Nations was integrated into the Treaty of Versailles. That attempt to form a family of nations — while it was not a success — led to 1928, when 15 countries came together to sign what was called the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
It outlawed war.
Did you know that? That war was outlawed in 1928? The signatories included France, the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Italy, and Japan. 47 more nations joined in as well.
And then, three years later, in 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and nobody did anything. And by 1941, every single nation that had signed the treaty, with the exception of Ireland — which basically stayed out of the war and sided with Germany — was enmeshed in World War II.
Empty verbiage.
The same thing holds true today. For decades, our allies have pretended to oppose the Iranian terror regime while doing virtually nothing to hold them accountable. They&#8217;ve imposed some rather minor sanctions targeting specific officials, unless the United States has pushed them into broader sanctions.
We&#8217;ve had to do all the hard work, as per our usual arrangement.
So here&#8217;s the deal. If we&#8217;re going to do all the work and undertake all the sacrifice and spend the blood and treasure, then we ought to reap the benefit. 
There&#8217;s been a lot of talk about what the United States ought to do next with regard to Iran. The most obvious move, and one I&#8217;ve been advocating, is for the United States to seize Kharg Island. President Trump has been suggesting for a while that this may happen.
Nearly 90% of all Iranian oil passes through Kharg Island. The Iranians have already, in large part, shut the Strait of Hormuz. They&#8217;ve already upped the ante in terms of attacks on surrounding gas and oil facilities. So the United States doesn&#8217;t have tremendous downside here.
What&#8217;s Iran going to do, attack more oil facilities? We ought to seize control of the oil, and then we ought to let American companies keep pumping it, and then we ought to send it to its final destination, China. China would then know that we are in charge of the spigot; Iran&#8217;s terrorist government would be deprived of their monetary flow.
What about the Europeans?
If the price of oil rises, they can buy it from us, not the Iranians.
If they&#8217;re not going to join us as allies, they can pay our companies for the oil.

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Strait of Hormuz

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States does not need NATO&#8217;s help in its war with Iran, after most alliance members declined to join the military operation.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO ‘Allies’ that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116245182325726375">wrote</a> on Truth Social. 
Trump’s post comes <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-warns-natos-future-could-be-very-bad-if-allies-refuse-to-help-secure-strait-of-hormuz?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trump+Warns+NATO%E2%80%99s+Future+Could+Be+%E2%80%98Very+Bad%E2%80%99+If+Allies+Refuse+To+Help+Secure+Strait+Of+Hormuz">after</a> he called for international assistance securing the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route through which roughly one-fifth of the world&#8217;s oil supply passes. He warned on Sunday that NATO would face a “very bad” future if it did not help open the strait. 
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said. 
Despite the lack of support, Trump said that the United States is no longer seeking NATO assistance, saying the United States had already “decimated” Iran’s military, including its navy and air force. 
“Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer ‘need,’ or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,” Trump said. “In fact, speaking as President of the United States of America, by far the Most Powerful Country Anywhere in the World, WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!”
As Iranian officials have pledged to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed, Trump said Sunday that he was asking other countries, including China, for help “policing” the strait. 
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas <a href="https://abcnews.com/Business/wireStory/eu-weighs-action-strait-hormuz-open-131109449">said</a> Monday the bloc is “discussing” potential actions, noting it is in Europe’s interest to keep the strait open.
Oil prices have surged since the start of Operation Epic Fury on February 28. Brent crude rose above $100 per barrel on Tuesday, while the <a href="https://gasprices.aaa.com/">national average</a> for gasoline reached $3.79 a gallon, up from $2.91 a month ago. 
Trump has said that destroying Iran’s nuclear program would justify higher energy prices.

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Trump’s Cold Shoulder Message To NATO After Allies Leave U.S. Hanging

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