The NATO summit in Ankara exposed the depth of tensions between members of the alliance. According to The European Conservative, internal divisions dominated the meeting and shaped its confrontational atmosphere.

US President Donald Trump delivered the sharpest remarks. The publication noted that he abandoned cautious diplomatic language, criticized Spain, revived the issue of Greenland and rebuked several European partners for refusing to support Washington’s operation against Iran.

Trump also set out a tougher position on the future of US participation in NATO. He indicated that Washington intended to remain in the alliance but would no longer shoulder its political and military costs without strategic cooperation in return. The European Conservative described the message as a demand for allies to accept American terms.

The Ankara summit had been expected to formalize a target of raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. Instead, the publication concluded, the gathering largely became an exercise in forcing discipline on alliance members who had grown unaccustomed to such pressure.

The summit took place in the Turkish capital on July 7–8. Before the meeting, Trump said he was disappointed with NATO and might have skipped the event had it not been held in Turkey. He had previously accused European countries of underfunding collective defense, demanded that every alliance member raise military spending to 5% of GDP and suggested that the United States could leave NATO.