On July 7 (Ankara time), according to Xinhua, US President Donald Trump made tough statements aimed at European allies immediately after arriving in Ankara (Turkey) to attend the NATO summit, and once again affirmed that the US should control Greenland.
Answering reporters before meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Palace, Mr. Trump said he was "very disappointed" with NATO because he believed that the alliance did not support the US in the conflict with Iran.
I once said I was very disappointed with NATO. Frankly, we tried to see if they were on our side or not. Italy disappointed us. Germany disappointed us. France too," Mr. Trump said.
The US leader continued to question the effectiveness of Washington spending hundreds of billions of dollars on defense while many allies are not willing to support the US when necessary.
He said the conflict with Iran has also affected bilateral relations with Italy, especially with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
Ms. Meloni is a good person, but our relationship has somewhat deteriorated because she refused to help us. She refused to support the US in the Iran issue and that has created certain tensions," Mr. Trump emphasized.
Besides criticisms aimed at NATO allies, the US President continued to reiterate his controversial views on Greenland.
Greenland needs to be controlled by the US, not Denmark," Trump declared.
Earlier the same day, the US presidential plane landed at Esenboga airport in Ankara and was welcomed by President Erdogan.
After the official welcoming ceremony at the Presidential Palace, the two leaders entered a closed-door meeting.
According to the agenda, Mr. Trump and Mr. Erdogan will discuss many regional issues, including the Russia-Ukraine situation.
Mr. Trump also revealed that he recently had phone calls that he described as "very effective" with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The NATO summit takes place in the context of the US continuing to put pressure on its members to sharply increase defense spending.
For many years, Mr. Trump has consistently argued that European countries are too dependent on the US in ensuring security and demands that allies share more of the financial burden on NATO.
