The President of the United States, Donald Trump, will participate in the NATO leaders’ summit to be held on July 7 and 8 in Ankara, Turkey. The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, confirmed the American leader’s attendance at a hearing before the House of Representatives and stated that Washington will remain a member of the bloc.
“The United States remains a member of NATO and we will be in Turkey to discuss all matters. The president himself will participate in the upcoming meeting of NATO heads of State,” confirmed Rubio, during a hearing before the House of Representatives.
The Secretary of State maintained that the United States “remains” in NATO and that the U.S. delegation will travel to Turkey to address pending issues between the allies, in a context of internal tensions within the Atlantic Alliance.
“I think the next NATO meeting in Turkey in July is probably the most important meeting in the history of NATO, because there are some things that need to be clarified and resolved,” Rubio added.
We recommend reading: Donald Trump canceled his trip to attend his son’s wedding amid uncertainty over the war in the Middle East
Marco Rubio announced to Congress that Trump will attend the NATO summit (Reuters)
Trump questioned the refusal of some allies to collaborate militarily in joint operations, especially in the conflict with the Iranian regime. According to his argument, several countries did not authorize the use of their military bases or their airspace for U.S. actions during times of crisis. Other European governments, furthermore, refused to get involved in military operations led by the United States and Israel against Iran, arguing that there was a risk of being dragged into a conflict with unpredictable consequences and little domestic support.
Despite the divergences, Trump confirmed that he will personally attend the meeting in Ankara. Rubio stated that the meeting will carry particular weight for the bloc because it will include discussions on the future of NATO, collective security, and the sharing of military responsibilities.
More Read
In the last year, Trump hardened his stance toward the Atlantic Alliance: he threatened to withdraw the United States, called the bloc a “paper tiger”, and accused European partners of relying too heavily on Washington’s security guarantees. He also ordered a reduction and reconfiguration of the deployment of U.S. forces in several European countries, as a sign of dissatisfaction with NATO’s military commitment in international conflict scenarios.
During his appearance before Congress, Rubio stated that NATO needs profound changes and said that Trump “clearly set” that position. He recalled that, at the last summit of the bloc held in The Hague, the allies agreed under pressure from the United States to increase military spending to 5% of the Gross Domestic Product within a period of ten years.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that the meeting in Ankara will serve to evaluate each country’s progress in meeting the spending commitment and to define a “realistic” roadmap toward that goal. The agenda will also include continued support for Ukraine, following the Russian military aggression.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received an invitation to attend the meeting, which aims to reinforce the bloc’s message of support for Kyiv against Moscow.
Volodymyr Zelensky received an invitation to attend the NATO summit in Ankara (Europa Press)
The Ankara summit will bring together the heads of state and government of the 32 NATO member countries. Since 2021, the bloc has held a leaders’ summit every summer, although in recent months internal debates have emerged regarding the advisability of maintaining these meetings annually, given the risk of tensions due to Trump’s divergent positions.
