Trump tests NATO clout as allies face 5% defence spending push in Ankara

Summary

US President Donald Trump heads to this week’s NATO summit in Turkey seeking to make sure allies follow through on a pledge to raise defence spending to 5 per cent of their gross domestic product over the next decade. The push has become a central test of Trump’s influence over the alliance, even as he remains at odds with some members over issues ranging from the Iran war to Greenland and personal disputes with leaders. The summit in Ankara is also expected to focus heavily on the war in Ukraine. The White House has said Trump will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, while he is also due to hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the sidelines. Before leaving on Monday evening, Trump had been publicly complaining for days about how much the US spends on defence compared with other countries. His administration’s message ahead of the summit was laid out by US ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker, who told reporters: "President Trump fully expects that all allies will step up immediately and get on the path to 5% and do it with urgency." NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte had tried to underline progress during an Oval Office meeting last month, showing charts on easels about what he called "The Trump Trillion" to highlight how much allies had increased their spending commitments since 2017. Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, described the Ankara summit as the "first report card" after last year’s summit in The Hague. He said Keir Starmer would resign as British prime minister before Starmer made it official, saying Starmer had "failed badly" on immigration and energy. Against that backdrop, a bipartisan group of US senators is travelling to the summit again this year to show support for NATO in Congress and to balance Trump’s often sharp tone towards the alliance. That’s part of what Congress understands that the administration doesn’t seem to." The summit also comes as the Trump administration argues for what it calls "NATO 3.0", a plan under which Europe would take on more responsibility for its own security so the US could direct attention elsewhere.