---
title: "Trump presses NATO allies on spending at a summit in Turkey"
description: "NATO leaders gathered in Turkey this week for a summit shadowed by questions about President Trump's commitment to the alliance, as he pushed member states to spend more on defense and prepared to meet Ukraine's president against the backdrop of a deadly new Russian strike on Kyiv."
category: "World"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/world
author: "Mei-Lin Tang"
published: 2026-07-06T13:55:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-06T13:55:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/trump-presses-nato-allies-on-spending-at-a-summit-in-turkey
tags: ["nato", "trump", "turkey", "ukraine", "defense-spending"]
---
# Trump presses NATO allies on spending at a summit in Turkey

NATO leaders gathered in Turkey this week for a summit shadowed by questions about President Trump's commitment to the alliance, as he pushed member states to spend more on defense and prepared to meet Ukraine's president against the backdrop of a deadly new Russian strike on Kyiv.

The leaders of NATO met in Turkey this week for a summit that is as much about the alliance's own cohesion as about the threats it faces, with President Trump again pressing allies to spend more and casting doubt, in the eyes of many, on how firmly the United States stands behind them.

## Spending, again, at the center

Trump has made higher defense spending by European allies a signature demand, and the Turkey summit put that pressure back in the spotlight. The gathering unfolded amid what has been described as a cooling in the president's enthusiasm for NATO, a shift the U.S. ambassador to the alliance, Matthew Whitaker, sought to play down. He characterized the current strains as "growing pains," [CNBC reported](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/06/nato-trump-defense-spending-whitaker.html).

For European members, the message has been received as a prod to shoulder more of the burden of their own security, and several have moved to increase military budgets. Whether that will satisfy Washington, and steady the relationship, is one of the summit's central questions.

## Meetings on the sidelines

The summit also served as a venue for high-stakes diplomacy beyond the formal sessions. Trump was scheduled to hold talks with the summit's host, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and to meet separately with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, and with Syria's new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, [ABC7 reported](https://abc7.com/post/trump-meet-ukraines-zelenskyy-syrias-al-sharaa-during-nato-summit/19457083/).

The meeting with Mr. Zelensky carries particular weight. It comes as Ukraine presses its allies for more air defenses and as talk of pushing Russia toward negotiations continues, without yet slowing the war.

## The war in the background

The diplomacy is playing out against fresh bloodshed. Russia struck Kyiv in a major aerial attack this week that Ukrainian officials said killed at least 20 people, an assault Ukraine could not blunt because, its air force said, it lacked enough interceptor missiles. That shortage has become the crux of Kyiv's appeal to the very allies now gathered in Turkey, a plea for the weapons to defend its skies.

The juxtaposition, a NATO summit debating burden-sharing while a partner nation buries its dead, has sharpened the stakes of the meeting.

## A test for the alliance

At its core, the summit is a test of whether NATO can hold together through a period of American ambivalence. The alliance's strength has always rested on the credibility of its mutual-defense promise, and Trump's transactional approach has led allies to ask how much they can rely on it.

For now, the leaders are talking, spending commitments are being made, and the alliance endures. But the questions raised in Turkey, about money, about Ukraine and about the United States' role, will outlast the summit itself.