President Donald Trump threw the NATO summit in Ankara into disarray Wednesday with public attacks on Spain and renewed demands over Greenland, before later striking a more conciliatory tone and insisting the alliance had shown “a lot of unity.”
Trump branded Spain a poor NATO partner over its refusal to boost defense spending and its stance during the war on Iran, ordering Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to halt all US trade with Madrid. He also declared the fragile ceasefire with Iran finished, using harsh language to describe the Iranian government. The remarks disrupted a summit that European leaders had hoped would showcase alliance unity and recently boosted defense spending commitments worth at least $50 billion unveiled a day earlier.
Trump also revived his demand that the US take control of Greenland, invoking Denmark’s occupation by Nazi Germany in World War Two to argue the territory should belong to Washington. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenland’s own premier, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, both rejected the claim, with Nielsen saying on social media that repeated calls for a takeover would not change Greenland’s status. French President Emmanuel Macron said he doubted the US would actually attempt to seize the territory, citing the alliance’s mutual-defense principles.
Despite the public friction, Trump emerged from a closed-door leaders’ session describing warmth and unity in the room, and was notably warmer toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy than during a tense White House meeting last year. He said he would grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot missile interceters domestically, as Russia intensifies airstrikes on Ukrainian cities. A source familiar with the closed-door talks said Trump did not repeat his public criticisms in private and told allies the US intended to remain in NATO.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the alliance emerged “more together than ever,” and members pledged roughly $80 billion in military assistance to Ukraine for 2026. The summit closed with a declaration reaffirming NATO’s mutual-defense commitment under Article 5, even as Trump’s remarks on Spain, Greenland and Iran overshadowed the carefully managed messaging leaders had hoped to project.
