NATO summit, today Trump sees Zelensky. Meloni: with the US president "cordial relations"

Who thought that reducing the work session to a minimum NATO summit would have contained Donald Trumpby limiting his declarations and twists and perhaps averting the risk of a difficult summit, has once again underestimated the American president. Trump only needed about thirty minutes during his visit to the landlord Recep Tayyip Erdoganto put everything back on the table. He reiterated his disappointment with the Natoarguing that without Erdogan he probably wouldn’t even have attended the summit.

He accused Italia, France e Germania that they “turned their backs” when he asked for their support in the crisis with theIranhas returned to claim control of the Greenlandonce again raised the possibility of withdrawing American soldiers fromEuropa and confirmed that the relationship with the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni it’s no longer what it used to be. In his words, however, an opening was also glimpsed. “He is a good person, I like him, but he was wrong to refuse to help us on Iran,” said the American president, implying that a rapprochement is not excluded.

Meloni at dinner with Trump: “Cordial relations”

And Palazzo Chigiafter choosing not to comment on the meme with which Trump had joked about the prime minister (“you need a restraining order“), there were no reactions even to the relaxing words of the American president. Meloni arrived at the leaders’ dinner a few minutes late and was welcomed by the Turkish vice-president Cevdet Yilmazwhile the other heads of state and government had received a welcome from Erdogan and his wife Emine. Once at the table, however, the prime minister found herself in the center of the main table, sitting next to Keir Starmer, Mark Rutte, Friedrich Merz and his wife Charlotte, Emmanuel Macron and Brigitte, Erdogan and Trump himself, At the end of the dinner, to journalists who asked her if he had been theresome clarifications with the American presidentsimply said: “Cordial relations.”

Tajani: “Relations with the USA are solid”

Later the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, reiterated at the end of the dinner with his NATO counterparts at the summit that with the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “there has always been an excellent relationship”. On the sidelines of the dinner he told journalists: “We talked about the international situation, dethe Middle East, of Ukraine. We work for peace, we hope that a peaceful situation can be found between Lebanon and Israel. It’s not easy”, highlighted the head of the Farnesina. Relations with the United States “are solid, beyond jokes and declarations. So they have always been excellent with the Secretary of State, as they are with the Ambassador in Rome. We can’t say they aren’t excellent. This was also seen on the occasion of Independence Day, and also with Rubio there had never been any disagreements. We are us, they are them, part of a fundamental political alliance. So we work for that and the relationships are solid and cordial, regardless of some jokes”, added Tajani.

The welcome prepared by Erdogan for Trump

For the American president, Erdogan had prepared a welcome in perfect imperial style. Knights, honor guardsOttoman warriors in armor and a ceremony with attention to the smallest details accompanied the arrival of the new one Air Force One ad Ankara. The Turkish leader is well aware of Trump’s taste for grand displays and has transformed the protocol into a tool of personal diplomacy. A strategy that seems to have borne fruit. “You are a great leader and we have a very special relationship,” Trump said before the bilateral meeting. The American president then opened up the possibility of authorizing the sale of the F-35 at the Türkiye and to revoke the US sanctions against Ankara, calling Erdogan “a friend” who “has proven more loyal than many traditional allies.”

Investments in defense

Meanwhile, allies continue to increase their efforts to convince Trump thatEuropa is really increasing its contribution to common defense. Al Defense Industry Forum new military contracts have been announced for at least 50 billion dollarswhile the general secretary Mark Rutte spoke of investments aimed at strengthening the safety ofAlliancesupport the defense industry and create hundreds of thousands of jobs. According to the latest data from NatoIn the 2026 the total military spending of Europe and Canada will reach i 634 billion dollarswith an increase in11% compared to the previous year.

The summit and support for Ukraine

Today the summit will come to life with the meeting of Atlantic Council. Trump will also see the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskywhile the European allies and the Canada are preparing to announce a new package of military aid a Kiev and 70 billion euros the year for the 2026 and the 2027. Zelensky, for his part, relaunched the candidacy ofUkraine at the Nato and asked the allies for an urgent strengthening of the air defenseespecially with new systems Patriot.