JULY 07: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomes US President Donald Trump ahead of the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit in Ankara, Turkiye, on July 07, 2026. Dogukan Keskinkılıc/Pool via REUTERS
President Donald Trump dissed NATO after arriving in Turkey on Tuesday for the summit.
Taking questions from the press, Trump sang the praises of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who, he said, he saw a building named after as he arrived. But it was only a precursor to Trump's NATO bashing after being asked about further troop draw-downs in Europe.
"Well, we're gonna see. 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, uh, person — it's possible that I wouldn't have attended," Trump said of the summit. "I felt I had to attend because of the fact that, you know, he's gone all out. It's a big thing to have NATO come to Turkey or any place else. It's a big thing."
He then pivoted back to talking about other members of NATO, saying, "we weren't treated well because we did something in Iran. We don't need anybody's help. I didn't even want their help. But before I asked they said they wouldn't be there. And we've invested trillionw of dollars in NATO. Why? To protect European countries — and Canada, et cetera. But to protect people, countries from, generally speaking, it used to be the Soviet Union. Now it's Russia and I say that's fine, but you would think that they'd be very willing to do something to help us."
Trump said that it wasn't the case, singling out the U.K., in particular, and bashing outgoing Prime Minister Kier Starmer.
"I guess he's no longer there, maybe because of this," Trump claimed without evidence. "It was a very unpopular thing he did. He said, no, we'll help after the war is over. I said, I don't need that kind of help. We didn't need any help at all."
Trump then told the reporters that the Iran war was a test for NATO that they failed.
"And in a way, I was testing people. I was testing to see whether or not they'd be there, because I've long said that we help them, but I'm not sure that they'd be there for usl" said Trump. "And Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down. And that's okay. But, you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they're not there for us. We've always been there for them."