President Donald Trump used the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday to issue a direct threat to sever trade with Spain, declare the ceasefire with Iran finished, and renew his demand that the United States take control of Greenland. Speaking alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, Trump said Madrid was a “wasted cause” and a “terrible partner” that neither paid enough for defence nor permitted the use of its airspace and bases during the US-led military campaign against Iran. He instructed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off” all commercial ties, a move that would in practice require European Union-level action. The outburst came hours after the alliance had announced at least $50 billion in new defence contracts, a figure European officials hoped would demonstrate that members were meeting Washington’s demands for greater burden-sharing.

Viewed from European capitals, Trump’s broadside was the latest in a series of grievances centred on the Iran conflict. The US president accused Germany, France, Italy, and the United Kingdom of refusing to assist American forces during operations in the Gulf, and he singled out Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for what he called a “very bad” decision on base access. European officials countered that they had largely honoured existing commitments to US forces, despite not having been consulted on a war that roiled their economies and proved deeply unpopular with their publics. In Madrid, the government of Pedro Sánchez said it was treating Trump’s statements “calmly and normally,” while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen reiterated that Greenland was “not for sale” and that Copenhagen expected allies to respect Danish sovereignty. Rutte, who has cultivated a conciliatory relationship with Trump, praised the president for pushing allies to raise defence spending and described overnight US strikes on Iran as “absolutely necessary,” while playing down the transatlantic rift as “isolated cases.”

The Greenland dispute, which flared earlier in the year when Trump refused to rule out using force to acquire the autonomous Danish territory, resurfaced as the president argued the island was vital for the “protection of the world” but of little importance to Denmark. He linked his dissatisfaction directly to the alliance, stating he was “very upset with NATO because of what they did with Greenland.” Analysts in European foreign ministries view the repeated claims as part of a broader US effort to secure expanded military access to the Arctic, where Washington sees growing Chinese and Russian activity. Rutte confirmed that a framework agreement to increase the American footprint on the island was being implemented in phases, though Danish officials maintain the secretary-general had no mandate to negotiate sovereignty matters.

The summit’s formal agenda was designed to project allied resolve on defence investment and support for Ukraine. NATO figures showed European and Canadian defence spending had risen 20 per cent compared to 2025, surpassing $570 billion, and the alliance’s summit declaration, approved by ambassadors, reaffirms an “unwavering commitment” to collective defence, pending ratification by leaders. Trump, who said he might have boycotted the gathering but for his friendship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, also announced he would lift sanctions imposed on Ankara over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems. On Ukraine, he stated that both Moscow and Kyiv wanted a deal and that Washington would grant Kyiv a licence to produce Patriot air-defence systems domestically. The working sessions are expected to continue with a focus on burden-sharing and the six-month US review of its military posture in Europe, while the Iran dossier remains unresolved after the collapse of the interim truce.