Ankara: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused several North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) allies of refusing to support the United States during its military operation against Iran, saying the episode had reinforced his longstanding concerns about burden-sharing within the transatlantic alliance.
Speaking before his bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said he had been disappointed by the response from several European allies despite Washington’s decades-long investment in their collective defence.
“Well, we’ll see. I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump said when asked about the alliance and the possibility of further US troop drawdowns in Europe.
“And frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended.”
Trump said the United States had received little support from its allies during the Iran operation.
“We weren’t treated well because we did something in Iran– We don’t need anybody’s help. I didn’t even want their help, but before I asked, they said they wouldn’t be there.”
He argued that the United States had invested heavily in NATO to protect European countries and questioned why allies had not been willing to reciprocate.
“We’ve invested trillions of dollars in NATO. Why? To protect European countries and others, Canada, etc– and I say that’s fine, but you would think that they’d be very willing to do something to help us and they really weren’t.”
Trump specifically referred to the United Kingdom, saying its response had fallen short of Washington’s expectations.
“In the case of the United Kingdom… He said, no, we’ll help after the war is over– I said, I don’t need that kind of help. We didn’t need any help at all. And, in a way, I was testing people.”
The President said the episode confirmed doubts he had long expressed about whether NATO allies would support the United States if it faced a military crisis.
“I was testing to see whether or not they’d be there, because I’ve long said that we help 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– 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.”
Despite his criticism, Trump praised Turkey’s role within the alliance, saying Erdogan’s leadership had been a key reason for his decision to attend the NATO summit in Ankara. Earlier, he described Erdogan as “a respected leader all over the world” and said relations between the United States and Turkey were stronger than ever.
Trump has repeatedly pressed NATO members to increase defence spending and assume greater responsibility for Europe’s security. Burden-sharing has been a defining issue in his approach to the alliance during both of his presidencies.
(IANS)
