A conflict was avoided during the NATO summit in Ankara, while U.S. President Donald Trump surprised allies with a positive tone, American media wrote on Wednesday. They also noted that Trump adopted a more favorable stance on Ukraine.
“After Greenland bluster, Trump surprises NATO allies with praise,” The Washington Post said in its headline. According to the newspaper, given the president’s previous critical remarks about the Alliance, NATO leaders had expected further harsh words, but were positively surprised.
During the closed-door meeting held on Wednesday, Trump praised countries that spend heavily on defense, while refraining from naming those whose spending he considers insufficient, the newspaper emphasized.
The U.S. president also did not announce any specific measures aimed at withdrawing American troops from Europe or otherwise limiting U.S. engagement within the Alliance, the paper noted. Nor did he mention Greenland.
“Many leaders were happy to accept Wednesday’s version of Trump,” The Washington Post quoted one official as saying. The newspaper’s source added that further conflicts would likely follow.
Politico also noted that, in Ankara, Trump largely refrained from attacking Europe, except for Spain, and described this as a surprising shift.
The media also drew attention to the change in the U.S. president’s tone toward Ukraine.
“Ukraine is back in the White House’s good graces,” The Wall Street Journal wrote. The growing position of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was confirmed by his bilateral meeting with Trump, which the newspaper described as the friendliest of all such meetings held so far. The U.S. president announced that he would agree to Ukraine producing missiles for Patriot systems, intended to defend against Russian missile attacks.
The Wall Street Journal wrote that the summit in Ankara sent a clear signal: NATO countries remain determined to keep the Alliance functioning and are ready to allocate billions to strengthen it.
“Now it is time for those words to be followed by action,” the newspaper added. It stressed that Europeans are quickly mobilizing funds for defense, but that turning money into weapons is a slow process. In the newspaper’s assessment, “flattering Trump keeps him interested in NATO.”
“NATO sets a lower bar for success: keeping Trump happy” reads the headline of another Wall Street Journal article devoted to the summit. “U.S. allies are relieved that a high-profile conflict was avoided during this year’s summit in Turkey,” the newspaper emphasized.
When Trump arrived at the summit, “allies did not know what posture he would adopt: whether he would appear as a friend or as an adversary.” Ultimately, according to the newspaper, they received a bit of both, “which is a good enough outcome for NATO leaders, who regard it as a success that Trump did not threaten to abandon the Alliance.”
At the same time, Politico assessed that the U.S. president’s comments that the American ceasefire with Iran had come to an end reinforced the belief among European NATO members that they “can no longer rely on America,” but must rely on themselves.
“Looking at developments in Iran and Ukraine, we must above all strengthen our own military capabilities. Then everyone will respect us: the Americans, the Russians, the Iranians, and the Chinese,”
a European official said.
“The more strength you have, the less anger you show,”
he added.