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A weekly digest of national security, defense, and cybersecurity news from Foreign Policy reporters John Haltiwanger and Rishi Iyengar. Delivered Thursday.

Trump Hands NATO a Mixed Bag

The alliance wanted to look united. In walked Trump.

By John Haltiwanger , a staff writer at Foreign Policy , and Rishi Iyengar , a staff writer at Foreign Policy .

U.S. President Donald Trump is seen walking off the stage in Ankara at the 2026 NATO summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump leaves after holding a press conference following the annual NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8. Altan Gocher/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Middle East and North Africa

July 8, 2026, 6:06 PM

Welcome back to our second and final 2026 NATO summit edition of Foreign Policy ’s Situation Report. U.S. President Donald Trump is wheels up from Ankara, but not on his shiny new Qatari-gifted airplane. Instead, he said he will be “going home by normal methods,” by which he means taking an older Air Force One plane (and not seats 29D and 29E of Turkish Airlines like your SitRep co-authors).

Alright, here’s what’s on tap for the day: Trump wraps up an erratic NATO summit and Ukraine gets a big (but vague) offer .

Trump’s Topsy-Turvy NATO Summit

NATO allies announced billions in new defense investments , hammered home hopeful messages of alliance unity, and stressed that Europe was making more progress in taking care of its own defense.

Then Trump came in like a wrecking ball.

Between his arrival at the NATO summit in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon and his departure on Wednesday evening, Trump resurfaced his long-standing desire to take over Greenland from Denmark, said he would cut off all trade with Spain, and threatened to pull all U.S. troops out of Europe.

Meanwhile, the U.S. also started bombing Iran again—following attacks on vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump said he thinks the cease-fire with Tehran is “over,” called Iranian leaders “scum,” and threatened to hit the country “hard again tonight” as well as potentially reimpose the naval blockade. Trump said talks with Iran could continue, but he believes they’re a “waste of time.”

All of this pushed the Iran war into the spotlight at a summit that many NATO allies had hoped would focus on Ukraine and defense spending commitments.

“Trump was talking about Iran a lot,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna told SitRep minutes after emerging from the North Atlantic Council leaders’ meeting on Wednesday. “I think that, of course, publicly, it turned away the attention from NATO matters and Ukraine-Russia. Now everybody is talking about what is going to happen with this Iran-U.S. [conflict].”

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told SitRep that the alliance sent “good messages” regarding Ukraine in Ankara, including by having Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the gathering and featuring a strong statement about the country’s contributions to trans-Atlantic security in the Ankara Summit Declaration . But Budrys also said that developments in the Middle East were “of course” taking “attention from Ukraine, and it has a cost.”

“There are certain hours that you can spend with the issues, and if you’re spending with the others it means less for Ukraine,” Budrys said, noting that this can translate into “less capabilities” for Kyiv.

The U.S. conducted fresh strikes on Iran on Wednesday, just hours after Trump departed Ankara.

NATO (dis)unity. NATO entered this year’s summit hoping to project a sense of solidarity. In a press conference on Wednesday, NATO chief Mark Rutte said there was a “great sense of unity” at the Ankara summit, adding that allies “warmly welcomed President Trump’s leadership that is transforming this alliance and making it stronger.”

But that message wasn’t especially convincing after Trump—the leader of the most powerful NATO member—spent much of the summit publicly attacking allies and airing various grievances, ranging from progress on spending commitments to a lack of involvement in the Iran war.

On Wednesday, he called for the United States to “cut off all trade” with Spain, seemingly over its refusal to commit to the alliance’s defense spending target, describing the country as a “wasted cause” and “a terrible partner in NATO.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez—who has criticized Trump over the Iran war—downplayed the U.S. president’s remarks and insisted that relations between Washington and Madrid are “positive.”

Trump also used the summit as an opportunity to reiterate his desire for the United States to acquire Greenland—an aspiration that has enraged NATO allies. “Greenland is very important to the United States, but it’s not important to Denmark,” Trump said Wednesday. “We need it for the protection of the world, not just the United States.”

Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a founding member of NATO. Trump’s obsession with Greenland has repeatedly been met with pushback by the Danish government. And sure enough, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who is here in Ankara, had to state once again that the island is “not for sale.”

Other NATO members also spoke out in support of Denmark. “The whole purpose of NATO is that we defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our member states. That of course also goes for the Kingdom of Denmark,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told SitRep.

However, Trump was apparently more amicable in a closed-door meeting with NATO allies. Barth Eide said there was “no mention” of Greenland in the meeting. “That’s a very important point,” he said. “There was no reference whatsoever inside the meeting, and that was good because then this did not become a theme of the NATO meeting; it was something that happened outside.”

And Trump ultimately praised the alliance during his press conference on Wednesday evening. “This was a tremendously successful summit,” Trump said. But Trump also adopted a more positive tone on NATO at the tail end of last year’s summit in The Hague, and it’s likely only a matter of time before he begins lobbing insults at the alliance and its members again. As NATO wraps up the Ankara summit, Trump’s unpredictability is poised to be an ongoing existential challenge for the alliance. But some NATO members are still optimistic about its future.

Budrys, who in May told John that Trump is actually making NATO stronger , said on Wednesday that the alliance is “moving in a good direction” and that “we are not doubting U.S. commitment” to its allies.

Ukraine may have been somewhat overshadowed by Iran, but Zelensky is unlikely to be overly bothered, as he’s walking away from the summit with a big win: Trump is going to give Ukraine a license to make the Patriot air defense systems that Kyiv has been requesting for months. “This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough,” Trump said during a Wednesday news conference with Zelensky.

There’s still a lot of uncertainty around when and how Ukraine will get that license, with Trump admitting that they “haven’t informed the company of that yet.” But it’s a significant capability and a significant shift from Trump and Washington, spurred on in part (as we wrote yesterday ) by Ukraine’s recent military success against Russia.

That success, multiple European officials told SitRep on Wednesday, is exactly why Ukraine needs to become a NATO member.

“If you want to have NATO 3.0 led by Europe, which is taking responsibility, then we need Ukraine in,” Tsahkna said. “It’s the largest military power that can take responsibility for these gaps we have if the U.S. is actually decreasing participation.” But Ukrainian lawmaker Oleg Dunda said it doesn’t matter whether Ukraine is officially part of the alliance, telling SitRep that he is walking away from the summit with “feelings that Ukraine is a part of NATO already.”

Asked if the U.S. war against Iran was distracting NATO from Ukraine, Dunda cited a “need to separate NATO into two parts” between Washington and everyone else. “For the United States, the situation in Iran is more crucial than Ukraine for now,” he said. “But the European part of NATO is trying to distance itself from the Iranian situation, and for them, Ukraine is more crucial than Iran.”

But ultimately, he said, it is natural for Trump to come around. “Everyone wants to stand shoulder to shoulder with the winner,” he said. “Even MAGA.”

NATO leaders are seen gathering in Ankara.

NATO leaders pose for a family photo during the NATO summit at the Bestepe presidential compound in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8. Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

SitRep spoke to Omer Ileri, a member of parliament from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, about the country’s hosting of the summit this year.

“The fact that the summit is in Turkey this year is in my opinion underlining the importance and significance of Turkey for NATO, but it is also emphasizing the strategic position Turkey holds in global affairs in general,” Ileri said.

Turkey’s relationship with NATO has been complicated, given its ties with adversaries Russia and Iran and its longtime opposition to Finland and Sweden joining the alliance (though it ultimately reversed that policy).

But Ileri said that Turkey’s “geopolitical location” and its rapidly growing defense industry have become assets to NATO as the alliance attempts to build up its capabilities. “The main takeaway of this summit, in my personal opinion, is that going forward, Turkey is potentially becoming the innovation powerhouse of the alliance,” he said. “I would expect the weight and importance of Turkey to increase going forward in the alliance.”

Ileri declined to directly address whether Turkey would intervene and help mediate between the United States and Iran, but he said that “whatever happens globally, sooner or later Turkey will be right at the center of the discussions and the developments.”

“I’m no. 1 on TikTok, and all I do is talk about communism.”

—Trump in his rambling press conference before leaving Ankara.

John Haltiwanger is a staff writer at Foreign Policy . Bluesky: @jchaltiwanger.bsky.social X: @jchaltiwanger

Rishi Iyengar is a staff writer at Foreign Policy . Bluesky: @iyengarish.bsky.social X: @Iyengarish Instagram: @iyengar.rishi

Middle East and North Africa |

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