Any hope that a more conciliatory President Donald Trump might appear at this year’s NATO summit has evaporated.
It was always a long-shot that a leader who spent the last five months castigating US allies for not helping more with Iran would arrive in Ankara in a pleasant mood.
He had already said he was coming here only begrudgingly, as a show of respect to Turkey’s authoritarian leader.
Yet even with those low expectations, Trump’s fury stood out on Wednesday as the summit was getting underway.
He was enraged that Iran has, in his mind, been dishonest in its dealings with the United States.
He was upset that NATO allies rebuffed his ambitions to annex Greenland.
And he was furious at Spain for not allowing US planes to its bases in the war with Iran.
And he was incredulous that his Oval Office predecessors — Republican and Democrats alike — had allowed all of this to pile up on his plate.
“It should have happened years ago and it couldn’t. But Obama didn’t do it and Biden didn’t do it. And frankly, Bush didn’t do it either,” he said of trying to get European countries to pay more for defense.
Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general, had tried to avoid this. He visited the White House last month in an attempt to smooth over any rifts, including through the use of charts.
As he was watching the very scenario he was hoping to prevent play out before his eyes, Rutte made light attempts at pushback.
“It’s your win, your win,” Rutte said of getting NATO to boost defense spending. “Grab the win,” he said encouragingly.
The flattery did not seem to work.
“Any questions?” Trump asked, moving swiftly on.
