From threats to praise, Trump keeps allies guessing at NATO summit

ANKARA, July 9 - As they prepared for this week's NATO summit in Ankara, the leaders of America's allies wondered which Donald Trump would join them - the friendly U.S. president who has praised the dedication of NATO allies or the testy Trump who has threatened to implode the 77-year-old alliance?

It turns out they got both.

Upon arriving on Tuesday, the U.S. president lashed out at the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy for - in his telling - failing to support the U.S. war with Iran. On Wednesday morning, he said he would cut off all trade with Spain for obstructing the war effort and failing to spend enough on defense.

By the end of the evening, Trump was praising those same leaders for ramping up their military spending, while describing a closed-door NATO leaders' meeting as filled with "love."

"It was sort of pretty wild," he mused before an auditorium packed with journalists.

It was a whiplash-inducing spectacle that has become a standard routine for the president and former TV personality. NATO leaders, who endured a similar roller-coaster at last year's summit, have grown accustomed to coaxing out the friendlier Trump, through flattery if need be.

Diplomats said such efforts are key for keeping the transatlantic alliance intact, but its touchiest issues, including control of Greenland, had been largely papered over, and there were relatively few new policy announcements on issues directly involving the U.S.

In a Wednesday meeting between Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, the alliance's leader praised Trump's strikes on Iran, while attempting to allay the president's frustrations with allies, saying Trump had transformed the alliance by pressing Europe to spend more on defense.

"Grab the win. It’s there. You did it," Rutte said.

By the summit's end, Trump appeared to follow Rutte's advice, while making clear that European leaders' charm offensive, at times delivered in private, was appreciated.

"They said, 'Sir, we love you.' These are grown people saying that. Isn't that nice?" Trump told reporters.

"Maybe they're doing it to get to me. And in a way they did."

ROCKY START, THEN 'TREMENDOUS LOVE'

The Republican president spent recent months railing at NATO whenever he got a chance over what he described as the alliance's reluctance to help Washington with the Iran war.

Until recent weeks, his very attendance was uncertain. On Tuesday, he said he may not have come at all if the summit had not been held in Turkey, given his close relationship with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Wednesday morning got off to a rocky start when Trump lambasted Spain, calling it a "terrible partner" and ordering a cutoff of all trade.

"I don't want anything to do with Spain. Cut off all trade with Spain, please, including visits, OK?" Trump told his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during the meeting with Rutte.

Trump also repeated demands that the U.S. control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, reviving an issue that has severely strained the alliance.

But in a subsequent closed session, according to multiple diplomats, Trump did not repeat his threats against Spain, or talk about his desire to acquire Greenland. His tone was markedly softer and not belligerent, they said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez played down the rift and said he had a "very cordial" conversation with Trump.

That afternoon, Trump also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a bilateral meeting, a relief for leaders in Kyiv who have had a volatile relationship with Trump.

A few hours later, when the U.S. president emerged for the news conference that marked the end of the summit, NATO leaders and diplomats let out a final sigh of relief — there were no fresh blow-ups among allies.

"They have a lot of good in their heart, not evil, good, and they're doing a great job for their country," Trump told journalists.

Still, most diplomats do not expect any detente to last long. During last year's NATO summit in The Hague, Trump effusively praised the alliance's leaders, only to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in the U.S. weeks later for a meeting that allies privately condemned.

Speaking to reporters on the plane ride home, Trump called Spain "very generous" and praised NATO's "tremendous unity."

Moments later, however, he repeated a threat to pull additional U.S. troops out of Europe. REUTERS