US President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Nato member states’ refusal to aid Washington’s military operation in the Middle East, while noting that his country would consider selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey after years of deadlock.
In his meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, the US president, who arrived in Ankara to attend this year’s Nato summit, said he was “very disappointed” with fellow Nato member states during Washington’s military operation against Iran and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Noting that he would have skipped this year’s summit if it were not hosted in Turkey by his “friend” Erdogan, Trump said that the US was “not treated well” during the Iran conflict, despite Washington’s “trillions of dollars” worth of investment into Nato in the past several decades to protect European countries and Canada from the Soviet Union and Russia.
“We don’t need anybody’s help. I didn’t even want the help, but before I asked, they said they wouldn’t be there ... and in a way, I was testing people,” Trump said, while addressing the media and sitting next to Erdogan.
“I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we helped them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for us.
“Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down, and it’s OK. But you know, why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they’re not there for us? We’ve always been there for them.”
Regarding the recent social media feud with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Trump said that, while he thinks she is a “nice person”, she made a “mistake”.
He was also “not happy” that her country and European allies did not help Washington open the Strait of Hormuz, even though Europe relies on oil shipped from the Gulf states, unlike the US, which has one of the world’s largest oil reserves.
Trump claims Greenland ‘surrounded’ by Chinese, Russian ships
On the issue of Greenland, while acknowledging that his claim over the world’s largest island hurt relations with Nato, Trump said, “Greenland doesn’t help Denmark” and Denmark “doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland”, even though it serves an important part of the US security, claiming it is “surrounded” by Chinese and Russian ships.
“[Greenland] should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,” said Trump, stressing that Washington is spending money to help them defend themselves against Russia.
“We don’t have to spend any money; we could remove all of our soldiers out of Europe, because, as you probably noticed, Europe is a very different place than it was 20 years ago,” he said.
Trump has been a long-time Nato critic, claiming that the alliance has not taken enough responsibility for their own defence while relying on Washington’s security guarantee.
The criticism increased after his country launched air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Tehran.
Trump called Nato a “paper tiger” and, after reassessing US military deployment in Europe, followed this up by announcing the withdrawal of around 5,000 US troops from Germany in May.
In contrast, Trump said his country has a “very good relationship” with Turkey, a Nato member state, which was “much more loyal” than other countries, noting that he would “certainly” weigh up selling F-35 fighter jets to the country.
“That’s a decision we’re going to make ... it’s a great plane, the best plane by far and it’s certainly something we will consider,” said Trump.
Turkey has long sought to resolve the question of its readmittance to the F-35 programme.
It had US sanctions imposed on it in 2020 after purchasing a Russian S-400 missile defence system in 2019, which Nato allies claimed could compromise the cybersecurity of the US-made fifth-generation fighter jet.
Turkey looked to Trump’s visit to break the deadlock following their meeting at the White House in September last year, when both leaders expressed a desire to draw a line under the matter. However, lifting the sanctions would require a decision from Congress.
US president ready to remove sanctions on ‘friends’ Turkey
Trump said that he will take the sanctions off Turkey, as the US “don’t want to sanction friends”, and that he is now not concerned about their Russian missile defence system.
“Turkey has been a great ally for us ... They know Iran very well, and they know the problems with Iran, but they’ve been very instrumental, along with a couple of other countries [in] helping,” said Trump.
Erdogan said he was confident Trump would resolve the issue and end the dispute, hoping for a “favourable decision” on the F-35 to emerge from the two leaders’ meeting.
Trump’s expression of willingness to sell the F-35s to Turkey follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks earlier this week urging Washington not to sell the jets to the Turkish military, claiming it would “upset the power balance” in the Middle East.
Regarding his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Trump said they had a “very good talk”, and that he also spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I think they both want to make a deal. It’s too bad it took so long, but I think there’s going to be – something’s going to come out,” said Trump, who is expected to meet with Zelensky during the Nato summit this week.
“They both want to get it settled now ... I think we’re going to get it settled. Hopefully soon.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
