Trump arrives in Ankara with a list of demands – One thing surprises

The president of the most important NATO country, the United States Donald Trump will arrive at the summit in Ankara on Tuesday and Wednesday in a situation where the relationship between the USA and the European allies has tightened: Trump has criticized NATO in harsh words before the meeting and has made it clear that he intends to bring up the list of demands at the meeting.

In his Truth Social messages, Trump has accused NATO of a “one-sided” relationship in which the United States pays too much for the security of others. He published a table comparing defense spending on his social media and emphasized that the United States spends clearly more money on defense than other allies.

Trump called the arrangement “ridiculous” and claimed the relationship was not reciprocal.

Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz rejected Trump’s accusations on Friday. According to him, Germany will double its defense budget in four years.

“This is the biggest effort we have ever made to strengthen our defense capabilities. In this regard, we have nothing to be ashamed of,” Merz told reporters.

In 2025, the European NATO countries and Canada increased their defense spending by more than 90 billion dollars, which corresponds to an increase of almost 20 percent compared to 2024. In addition, during the last decade, NATO countries have significantly increased their defense expenditures: in 2014, they were a total of 1.4 percent of the countries’ combined GDP, and last year defense expenditures were 2.3 percent.

Another of Trump’s key criticisms of NATO allies concerns the Iran war. Trump has criticized European NATO countries, especially Spain, for not supporting the United States sufficiently during the Iran conflict.

A new kind of NATO

In Ankara, the United States wants to seal a new type of NATO, the so-called NATO 3.0. In it, the United States maintains its nuclear deterrent and part of its critical performance capabilities in support of Europe, but Europe must take the main responsibility for the ordinary defense of the continent itself.

However, it is still unclear how quickly the responsibility will be transferred to Europe, and whether the United States led by Trump is ready in the future to also defend NATO countries that do not perform well enough. The danger is that if NATO does not show unity, Russia may engage in provocations on NATO’s borders, in the Baltic Sea or in the air and online.

There is a risk of this, because the United States seems tired of working with NATO countries that do not invest enough in their defense. At the same time, it prioritizes countries that take their defense obligations seriously, such as Poland, the Baltic countries and the Nordic countries.

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told reporters before the summit that there will be advantages for countries that excel in defense. They can be, among other things, getting priority in arms purchases from the United States.

Big announcements

Ankara must be able to turn the 5 percent defense spending target set in The Hague last year into a concrete defense capability. In connection with this, a “big announcement” will be made on Tuesday in connection with the defense industry forum of the summit.

Announcements of significant defense industry projects are coming from Ankara. Some of them are related to national defense, some to joint arrangements of country groups, and some to NATO’s joint defense.

Finnish companies participating in the defense industry forum include Bittium, Forcit Group, Iceye, Insta, Nokia, Patria and Sensofusion.

According to information from Kauppalehti, a new announcement is coming from Patria in Ankara, and Iltalehten according to information, there are new opportunities for Nokia in the sale of networks intended for military use.

Evening news in an interview with the Minister of Defense Antti Häkkänen (kok) on the other hand hinted that in addition to the US icebreaker orders, “non-Arctic countries are also interested in Arctic capabilities”.

In addition to strengthening defense spending and the defense industry, NATO leaders meeting in Ankara will discuss supporting Ukraine and expanding the PURL program. Through the program, other NATO countries finance Ukraine’s arms purchases from the United States.

Erdoğan’s throne

Trump has said directly that he will attend the NATO meeting in Ankara mainly only out of respect for the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogania towards.

“I wouldn’t have gone for most people,” Trump said before the meeting.

Trump and Erdoğan are known to have a close relationship. Both value direct relationships between managers more than traditional institutional decision-making. Among other things, Trump has called Erdoğan a “strong leader” and a “good friend”.

The background of the two’s good relations is, for example, Trump’s decision in 2019 to withdraw US troops from northern Syria. It opened the door for Turkey to expand its operations against Kurdish forces, which had long been a key objective of Erdoğan. In addition, Trump was more sympathetic than many Washington officials to Turkey’s controversial S-400 anti-aircraft missile deal with Russia. Trump also has his own financial ties to Turkey through previous construction projects.

Erdoğan’s goal is to show respect to Trump and keep the US president in a good mood so that the NATO meeting goes as expected and the unity of the alliance is preserved.

In Ankara, streets and unfinished construction sites are covered with large sheets and billboards emphasizing NATO’s common future and peace. In addition, the sides of the streets have been cleaned of “undesirable substances”.

Significance for Europe

Turkey’s strategic importance has also increased in the eyes of Europe: the country has become more important than before, especially now that the United States is withdrawing from Europe.

After the United States, Turkey has NATO’s second largest army and a rapidly growing defense industry, and NATO country Turkey does not want to fall too far into the sphere of influence of Russia and China.

In recent years, Turkey has increased defense cooperation with, for example, Italy, Great Britain, Spain and Romania, but it has not been able to participate in joint EU projects.

Relations between the EU and Turkey are overshadowed by controversies about Turkey’s human rights situation, democratic development, Cyprus, and Turkey’s relations with Russia and China. Erdoğan’s administration has also been criticized for its harsh measures against the opposition and the media.