US allies make desperate bid to 'prevent a Trump blow-up' from wrecking NATO summit

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U.S. President Donald Trump at the Chateau de Versailles with President of France Emmanuel Macron on June 17, 2026. Anna Moneymaker/Pool via REUTERS

This Tuesday, July 7, U.S. President Donald Trump is visiting Ankara, Turkey to attend the 2026 NATO Summit. Tensions between Trump and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) members have soared since his return to the White House 17 and one-half months ago, and according to Politico, NATO leaders are desperately trying to make sure that the Ankara event doesn't go off the rails.

"After a bruising year of infighting, crises and recriminations," journalists Victor Jack and Laura Kayali report in Politico, "NATO countries are opting for a by-now-familiar playbook at the Ankara Summit: Placate Donald Trump, and pray for no surprises. NATO leaders gather in Turkey on Tuesday hoping for a show of unity after a year of unprecedented strain on the alliance, largely thanks to the U.S. president. After threatening to annex Greenland, Trump repeatedly bludgeoned allies for not helping Washington's war effort in Iran — while his administration vowed reprisals for those not spending enough on defense."

According to Jack and Kayali, the United States' European NATO allies "are pulling out the stops to prevent a Trump blow-up" — and that includes "promoting the big bucks being spent on defense" and "keeping the focus on the less divisive topic of industry."

A senior NATO diplomat, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told Politico, "It's all about Trump management." And Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken cautions that NATO representatives need to be as "diplomatic" as possible — not confrontational — when dealing with Trump in Ankara.

Francken told Politico, "There's no alternative how to approach him but to be diplomatic and not to extremely offend him and saying that we're stepping up. That's what we need to do, and that's what we're doing."

Two NATO diplomatics interviewed by Politico, according to Jack and Kayali, are determined to extend an "olive branch" to Trump in Ankara.

But some NATO officials fear that despite their best efforts to have a meaningful dialogue with Trump, a "conflict" could occur. And the Politico reporters point out that "even careful preparation can't immunize NATO from a Trump explosion."

Veteran NATO official Gerlinde Niehus told Politico, "If this conflict flares up again — which can't be ruled out — and then Trump again puts (out) statements that Europeans should step up, then that topic would, of course, overshadow everything else."

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