Trump cites ‘tremendous unity’ at NATO summit in Turkey
US President Donald Trump told reporters that there was “tremendous unity” at the NATO summit in Türkiye and vowed to increase US military production.
“They (European countries) want American equipment because it works better,” Trump said at a news conference.
“I gave other leaders an update on the steps we were taking to rapidly increase production in the United States. And they wanted to hear about it because they really want to get it in a week, not in four years, five years.”
Earlier in the meeting, Trump called Spain a “terrible partner” of NATO and criticized alliance members for not supporting the war against Iran.
NATO boss Mark Rutte said in a statement after the summit ended on Wednesday that the disagreements between Trump and other NATO leaders showed the democratic strength of the alliance and should be a lesson to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rutte also said in an interview with Reuters that there was no need to change his relationship with Trump, despite accusations that he was overly complimentary towards Trump and did not hold back on his criticism of his allies.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would use a summit among Ukraine’s allies next week to unveil new defense initiatives and joint military exercises, presenting the meeting as evidence that Europe is taking greater responsibility for its own security.
More than seven years after declaring the NATO military alliance to be suffering “brain death”, Macron told a summit in Ankara on Wednesday that Europe had shown it was investing more in defence, protecting its sovereignty and developing strategic autonomy within NATO.
Macron said the July 13 meeting, expected to bring together about 35 leaders of the “coalition of the willing,” will focus on combating Russia’s stay-behind fleet, new military capabilities for Ukraine, greater mobilization of the defense industry and deeper operational cooperation among Ukraine’s supporters.
Macron, a long-time advocate of Europe’s strategic autonomy, argued that Russia’s war in Ukraine and uncertainty about long-term U.S. military commitments have accelerated Europe’s efforts to improve its own defense capabilities while remaining committed to NATO.
President Trump is leaving Türkiye after the NATO Summit. pic.twitter.com/v7FHdq1STg— CSPAN (@cspan) July 8, 2026
As he enters the final year of his presidency, Macron used the Ankara summit to argue that many of the changes he has long advocated are now taking shape, from increased European defense spending to a greater operational role within the alliance to efforts to build a stronger European defense industrial base.
“France has long argued that Europeans should support and defend the European defense industry. If we spend more, it should not just be on buying non-European equipment,” he said.
Macron said Europe is developing its own missile defense systems, long-range precision attack capabilities, early warning networks and artificial intelligence-supported command systems.
He sought to downplay ongoing concerns about the United States’ commitment to the alliance, saying Trump had reiterated his support for NATO in closed-door talks despite periodic public criticism of the allies.
“The United States has announced that it will redeploy its efforts, which seems to me completely legitimate, and the Europeans should organize themselves accordingly,” Macron said.
“But we shouldn’t do it because someone asks us to. We should do it for ourselves.”
Since taking office, Macron has sought to both deepen France’s role within NATO and strengthen what he describes as the alliance’s European pillar.
