US President Donald Trump dominated the NATO leaders' summit in Ankara on Wednesday with a string of controversial remarks. He took aim at Spain, revived the question of US control over Greenland and declared that the fragile ceasefire with Iran was, in his view, effectively dead.
Standing alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who worked to smooth over the tensions and repeatedly credited the president with driving up European defense spending, Trump largely avoided the subject of Spain. A Reuters source said he did not raise the issue of relations with Madrid again during the meeting itself.
Privately, he reassured European allies that he wants the United States to remain in the Alliance. "We want to remain with you", he was quoted as saying by an anonymous source present at the meeting.
According to an official communiqué, NATO signed new defense contracts totaling more than $50bn, along with an additional €70bn ($79.8bn) in support of Ukraine. Turkey emerged as the summit's biggest winner, as the US lifted sanctions on Tuesday and authorized the Turkish Air Force to purchase F-35 fighter jets.
"A Terrible Partner": Trump Turns on Madrid
Spain had refused to increase its defense spending to 5% of GDP at last year's summit in The Hague and, during the US-Israeli war against Iran, declined to grant the superpowers access to its airspace. Trump consequently labeled Pedro Sánchez's government a "terrible partner".
"Spain is a wasted cause. We don't want to do any trade business with Spain anymore", the US president declared. "Cut off all trade with Spain, including visits", he ordered the head of the department that administers sanctions, before turning to Bessent. "I don't want to do any trade with them, alright? Take care of it immediately", he said. Bessent nodded and replied: "Yes, sir."
The Spanish Prime Minister's Office dismissed Trump's remarks as "business as usual" and said it remained interested in continuing good relations, noting that trade agreements between the United States and European countries are handled by the European Union rather than by individual member states.
The response from Spanish Health Minister Mónica García was sharper still. "We are a sovereign, democratic country that defends multilateralism and peace. What's terrible is confusing diplomacy with bullying", she wrote on X.
Rutte pointed out that Madrid had raised its defense spending to 2% of GDP the previous year for the first time in a long while. The Spanish government also drew praise as a business partner from investment giant BlackRock, led by Trump ally Larry Fink, with one of the world's largest asset managers naming the country a preferred investment destination for the next six months.
Tensions with Tehran Reignite as Ceasefire Unravels
At the summit, the US president announced the de facto end of the ceasefire with Iran, which had been due to remain in effect for 60 days. Under last month's memorandum of understanding, the warring parties were to lay down their arms and negotiate the status of the Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran had closed at the start of the war.
According to reports, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps violated the ceasefire by attacking three tankers that had deviated from Tehran's designated route. US Central Command responded quickly, and White House sources say the renewed attacks are larger in scale than those seen before the truce.
Trump described Iran's leaders as "crazy" and "sick people" with whom he no longer wishes to deal. "That cancer. And you know what you do? You got to cut out cancer early", he said. Even while the ceasefire held, he had warned Tehran on social media that he would resume bombing oil facilities if peace talks failed.
The US president also alleged that European countries had blocked US forces from using their airspace and military bases during the conflict, a claim European officials rejected, stating that they had largely fulfilled their obligations to Washington, even though it had not consulted them in advance regarding the conflict.
Rutte defended the US strikes, calling them an "absolutely necessary" response to Iran's breach of the ceasefire. Oil prices climbed sharply in the meantime, with Brent crude up 5%, the largest daily rise since late May according to Reuters, closing at more than $74 per barrel.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the planned Franco-British mission to protect ships in the Strait of Hormuz was still under consideration. Though he condemned the Iranian attacks unequivocally, he maintained that the 60-day ceasefire remains in effect.
Trump also announced that he would strike Iran again on Wednesday evening. "We may take over Kharg Island", he declared, referring to the Persian Gulf island whose oil terminal handles 90% of Iran's traded oil. He said NATO allies should supply minesweepers so that the US can reimpose a naval blockade.
Greenland Dispute Resurfaces
Trump's repeated remarks about Greenland also stoked tensions. The president once again stated that the island is strategically important to the United States and should come under American control. "Greenland is very important for the United States, but it's not important for Denmark", he said.
He then recounted an episode from World War II in which, as he told it, Copenhagen "was overrun in less than one day" and Denmark had asked the Americans to defend the world's largest island. "In fact, we took Greenland, and then stupidly we gave it back", he concluded.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen again dismissed Trump's remarks, declaring, "We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory", and reiterating that Greenland is not for sale. This has been her consistent position since Trump first raised the prospect of "acquiring" the island at any cost, even though he ruled out the use of force at the World Economic Forum.
Macron also weighed in on Greenland. He had previously organized the deployment of European contingents to the semi-autonomous Danish territory as a symbolic deterrent to the US, and he said he did not believe the US would take over Greenland.
Trump Offers Kyiv a License to Build Its Own Patriots
Ahead of the summit, Trump had spoken by phone with the presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, though he commented only briefly on the ongoing war in Europe. He repeated that the warring leaders of Eastern Europe had reportedly admitted to him that both longed to make peace, adding that the war would end soon.
Trump described Zelensky as very effective and said Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil infrastructure could help bring the war to an end. He added that Ukraine has enormous potential, noting that the US has its own economic interests there, including mineral resources.
He was referring to the agreement on joint mining of rare earth minerals, a deal the two had argued over in the Oval Office in February before eventually signing it after several rounds of negotiations.
On Tuesday, Zelensky told his Western supporters that Kyiv's stock of anti-missile munitions was running out, singling out missiles for the US Patriot systems. Unverified intelligence suggests Ukraine has nearly run out of such missiles, a shortage that could explain the rising effectiveness of Russian ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv and other cities.
In an unexpected move, Trump told Zelensky that he would grant Ukraine a license to produce Patriots on its own soil. "We're going to give a license to you to make Patriots", Trump said openly.
"We've settled a lot of wars, and this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin is a difficult character, and this guy's a difficult character", Trump said, referring to Zelensky, who was sitting next to him. The Ukrainian leader responded by saying he wanted to discuss some very important details with Trump.
"I'm sure you will do everything to stop this war", he told Trump. Trump did not leave it there, however, going on to raise the question of potential security guarantees.
"We'll do it to save lives", Trump said in response to a question about possible guarantees he had vehemently rejected during the campaign, adding that he believes Putin's conditions for ending the war change every time.
He announced that he would speak with the Russian president again by phone later that day and expressed hope for another face-to-face meeting following last year's summit in Alaska, adding that Putin wanted to meet in Moscow.
On the subject of Ukraine, he added that the United States would work on security guarantees, explaining that if a good agreement could be reached, they would help Europe, and noting that in his view this would involve some kind of security package.
Despite his previous conflicts with Zelensky, he said he would visit Ukraine when the time was right. He has not yet set foot in the war-torn country, which has been defending itself against an invasion by its larger neighbor for more than four years.
He further indicated a willingness to buy Ukrainian drones, describing them as the fastest-growing sector of Ukraine's defense industry in Europe. This battle-tested technology also prompted Arab state leaders to sign agreements with Kyiv in March aimed at defending themselves against Iran.
Trump stated that Ukraine's airspace could be closed if necessary to support these security guarantees, a step that his predecessor, Joe Biden, had rejected, arguing that it would amount to direct US involvement in the war.
Next Year's NATO Summit in Albania May Be Postponed
According to Bloomberg sources, next year's NATO summit in Albania could be postponed to prevent it from becoming another platform for Trump to disparage allies.
Albania, a NATO member country that had, until recently, failed to meet the 2% defense spending commitment, is not mentioned in connection with any future NATO gathering. The final statement from the Ankara summit makes no reference to another meeting in the country.