US President Donald Trump has promised new arms sales in Europe, including advanced air defence systems to Nato allies and Ukraine, as the transatlantic alliance ramps up its military partnership, signalling a potential thaw after Trump repeatedly railed against the coalition.
In a press conference on the last day of the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, on Wednesday, Trump said that as European nations rebuild their militaries, American equipment will be the “largest beneficiary”, claiming US$3 billion of new defence investment between European and US defence contractors.
This included a planned Lockheed Martin “world-class” Patriot missile maintenance facility, which Trump described as a “big deal”, although he did not reveal where in Europe this would be.
“It all goes to the benefit of Europe and us, because they’re getting the best equipment,” said Trump.
Trump’s remarks followed his earlier-in-the-day claim that Washington would grant Ukraine a licence to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles, made during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the summit’s sidelines.
It came after Zelensky’s repeated calls for the US-made interceptors, as the increased use of drones and missiles in modern warfare has highlighted the significance of air defence, especially in the war in Ukraine, which has seen Kyiv and Moscow exchanging drone attacks on each other’s territories.
When asked if Washington would send additional Patriot interceptors immediately, Trump said “some” could be sent immediately, but the US needed some for itself too, and that Ukraine could begin to produce its own quickly.
Patriots detect and intercept missiles and are regarded as one of the world’s best air defence systems, capable of targeting aerial threats within a 160km (99-mile) range.
Surface-to-air missile air defence systems are difficult to produce, requiring a domestic industrial base for high-frequency radars and advanced missile interceptors, thereby limiting exports to only a handful of countries.
European countries have largely lacked these air defence systems, which is why during the summit, eight Nato member states launched a new integrated air and missile defence initiative, investing US$26.3 billion.
Trump reveals plans to sell US-made aerospace arms to Europe
Trump also revealed various new plans to sell US-made aerospace arms to Europe, such as Northrop Grumman’s sale of advanced drone technology; Lockheed Martin and the German arms maker Rheinmetall’s partnership to build army tactical missile systems; and Anduril’s production of new low-cost Barracuda autonomous cruise missiles for Poland.
“We’re actually the leader in drone tech. A lot of people don’t know that we have the most sophisticated drones in the world,” Trump said, while also claiming that the US is leading China in artificial intelligence.
These major US companies’ procurement deals with European countries come as Nato’s member states gathered to lay out plans to meet the defence spending goal of five per cent of GDP by 2035, established at last year’s meeting in The Hague.
Earlier this year, Trump called on Canada and Europe to take more responsibility for their own defence, rather than relying on Washington.
However, on Wednesday, the US president said that the member states were making “great progress” to meet the five per cent benchmark, with Nato members’ defence spending surging by almost US$150 billion in 2025, much of it spent on US-made equipment.
“They all want American-made equipment,” said Trump. “We’re pushing very hard to have the defence companies integrate; we make the best equipment.”
On the conflict with Iran, Trump reinstated his previous position that Tehran will not have a nuclear weapon, which he said was more important than other issues, such as surging oil prices.
After stating during a meeting with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte that the ceasefire agreement signed last month is now “over”, he later said he didn’t think the war would restart because of the US’ military operation.
“I call it we denuclearise Iran. It has happened,” said Trump. “They have no military left.
“Their air force is gone ... Their ships are gone, 150 units of ships are gone – they’re at the bottom of the sea. Their radar is gone, everything’s gone, so when you say not a success, it’s a tremendous success.”
Trump maintained the war won’t start again, as US air strikes on Iran will continue “very quickly”.
“They hit a couple of ships [last night], and so we hit them much harder. When they hit, we hit ten times ... We hit much harder than they do. We have a lot better equipment than they do,” he said.
“Somebody asked before, ‘Do you think you’ll hit them tonight?’ I said, ‘We might. Yeah, we might.’”
A few hours after Trump’s remarks, the US military launched new air strikes against Iran “to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”, according to US Central Command.
Iran accuses US of ceasefire ‘violations’ and ‘aggressive attacks’
Responding to Trump’s remarks, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on social media, accusing the US of violations of the memorandum of understanding and highlighting what he described as the US’ “violation of the agreement’s structure through its unilateral actions and also aggressive attacks against Iran”.
In contrast to his criticism that he was “not happy” with Nato member states’ refusal to help the US military operation against Iran, Trump appeared less critical after Wednesday’s final Nato meeting, saying that “almost all countries have been good” and “unification” was the dominant theme of the summit.
“I’ve never seen anything like it, every one of those countries loves us; they love each other. That was tremendous unification,” Trump said.
After a positive meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Trump added that, just like Turkey, China also has the US’ respect, as Beijing never entered the Iran war, despite its heavy reliance on oil from the Middle East.
“They [China] never came into the war. They never said, ‘I’m going to send a ship and five destroyers along each side of the ship.’ They never did that,” said Trump.
“President Xi [Jinping] has been great. Everyone’s been sort of great, to be honest. You know why? Because they respect our country again.” -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
