The US president: «If the summit had not been in Türkiye I probably would not have participated». Donald Trump returns to attack NATO and also questions the future of the US military presence in Europe. On the sidelines of the bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the American president reiterated his disappointment towards the Alliance.
«Without Turkey perhaps I wouldn’t have come»
“Frankly, if the NATO summit hadn’t been held in Türkiye, where my friend is a very strong leader, I probably wouldn’t have attended,” Trump said. Responding to a question about a possible further reduction of American troops in Europe, he added: «We’ll see. I am very disappointed with NATO.”
«The allies did not support us on Iran»
The US president then argued that European allies would not support the United States on the Iranian issue. «We have invested in NATO: the allies should be willing to lend a hand. Italy, Germany, France and even Great Britain refused.” Trump finally explained that he had “tested the allies” precisely on the Iran issue: “We could withdraw all our soldiers from Europe.”
The reference to Meloni
During the summit, Trump spoke about Giorgia Meloni: “I like her, she’s a good person but she wasn’t there for us” on Iran.