Arriving in Ankara for a NATO leaders’ summit on 7 July, US President Donald Trump delivered a public rebuke to key European allies, stating he was “very disappointed” by their refusal to support American military operations against Iran. Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump characterised his requests for assistance as a deliberate test of alliance loyalty. “I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we helped them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us,” he told reporters. He named Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom as having “turned their backs” on Washington, and said that had the summit not been held in Turkey, “it is possible I would not have attended.”

Viewed from Washington, the episode crystallises a long-standing grievance: that European allies benefit from American security guarantees without offering reciprocal support when US interests are directly engaged. Trump linked the Iran dispute to broader demands, reiterating that Greenland “should be controlled by the United States” and warning that the US could withdraw all its troops from Europe. On Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he tempered criticism with personal praise, calling her “a nice person” but insisting her refusal to engage in the Strait of Hormuz or Iran had “soured” their relationship. European capitals have not publicly detailed their reasoning, but the summit’s opening day saw NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announce defence contracts worth over $50 billion, a move widely interpreted in Brussels as an effort to demonstrate increased burden-sharing and placate Washington.

Ankara, by contrast, was singled out for praise. Trump described Erdoğan as a “very strong leader” and signalled a willingness to reconsider Turkey’s exclusion from the F-35 fighter programme, a step that would reverse sanctions imposed after Turkey acquired Russian S-400 air-defence systems. Turkish officials, according to Trump, have been “very instrumental” in efforts to wind down hostilities with Iran, a framing that positions Turkey as an indispensable interlocutor at a moment of transatlantic friction. The contrast between Trump’s treatment of Ankara and his criticism of other allies underscores a transactional approach to alliance management, in which bilateral relationships and perceived loyalty carry greater weight than institutional solidarity.

The summit, which continues on 8 July, is expected to address the war in Ukraine and the future of NATO’s defence industrial base. Trump said he had spoken with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and believed an agreement could be reached “soon.” Meanwhile, the US president’s remarks on possible troop withdrawals and his conditional attendance have injected fresh uncertainty into the alliance’s strategic planning. No formal decisions on force posture or F-35 sales were announced, but officials in several European capitals indicated that the coming weeks would be critical in determining whether the rift over Iran translates into concrete changes to the US military footprint on the continent.