Trump’s European rivals Iran NATO where he received criticism

The Iran war is back on and the US may need European allies more than ever, but President Donald Trump left the NATO summit in Turkey on Wednesday without announcing any new commitments from the defense alliance to help in the conflict.

Instead he gave mixed signals about his feelings about the military alliance during his two days in Ankara, saying “great unity” at one point while elsewhere hurling harsh words at other countries reluctance to get involved in the Middle East conflict.

“I’m not happy with NATO, because they didn’t want to help us with the no. 1 state sponsor of terror, which is Iran,” he said when he met NATO chief Mark Rutte. “They weren’t willing to help us.”

Trump left the conference criticizing his European colleagues at a time when their alliance could be used to end the war with Iran when the US escalated again during the conference. European heads of state have publicly spoken modest words as Trump, in bilateral meetings in front of the media and at a press conference, has held them back on whether the US will defend itself if attacked.

One geopolitics expert said the US would benefit greatly from international aid dealing with Iran.

“I think the president would do well” to try to get European and Persian Gulf leaders to “cause some damage to the Iranian economy,” Nicholas Burns, a Harvard University professor and former U.S. ambassador to NATO, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

The White House, asked by CNBC to share what NATO agreed on Iran during the summit, did not immediately respond.

NATO has been a focus of Trump’s harsh words during both of his terms as president as he has pressured other member countries to increase their defense spending.

Trump has repeatedly said the US does not need NATO’s help, but he asked for help with Iran as a test of loyalty.

“I was really checking, I wanted to see if they were going to be there or not,” Trump said Wednesday with Rutte, noting that he had spoken with many NATO members including Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

That narrative that NATO members have failed to “check” Iran is consistent with Trump’s ongoing criticism that the alliance is a raw deal for the US, and that its members have shown insufficient loyalty to America.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to dismantle the US military in Europe, and did so again this week – despite Russia’s insistence on threatening Ukraine and its other neighbors – and has flirted with the possibility of pulling the US out of the 77-year-old alliance.

NATO leaders, especially Rutte, continue to speak flatteringly of Trump and the US, the alliance’s most powerful member. Continued US purchases are critical to the group’s strength, especially when it comes to the implementation of Article 5, its commitment that an attack on one region will be considered an attack on the whole.

Rutte told Trump on Wednesday, “I know you are disappointed” in Iran.

He noted that thousands of American planes took off from European airports in support of Trump’s military offensive against Iran. “It was Europe as one big arena to project the power of the United States,” he said.

When Trump was asked at a press conference whether European countries that are at odds with the US can count on support if they are attacked, he did not answer directly.

“They didn’t help us.

Trump also indicated the possibility of withdrawing all approximately 68,000 US troops stationed in Europe, a number that has decreased since Trump began his second term as president.

“We can take all our troops out of Europe,” Trump said on Tuesday, as he lamented that his bid for Greenland was thwarted despite “all the money we spend helping them with Russia.”

European leaders told CNBC they view the president’s warning to withdraw troops as an empty threat.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki told CNBC that “I am sure that the American troops in Poland will remain … together with the Polish troops, we will protect central and eastern Europe and NATO’s borders.”

“President Trump is a great friend of the Republic of Poland,” Nawrocki said. “We have almost 10,000 American troops in Poland. We would like to set up an American military camp in Poland.”

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told CNBC, “I don’t see the US withdrawing all its troops from Europe.”

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal was hoping for US support in Europe, telling CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick that Trump “has spoken strongly about the events in Russia that, when asked, he will protest the Baltics and Poland.”

The escalation of defense spending was a hotly anticipated issue at the NATO Summit, and European leaders were preparing their comments. While some admit that US pressure has led to the rise in the currency, others say that it is the threat from Russia that has raised their rate.

Speaking to CNBC on Tuesday, Finnish President Alexander Stubb said, “The American people, we have heard them loud and clear, have taken on more responsibility for defense, that means in time of war, in time of peace and planning.”

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told CNBC, “There should be one club, and this should be called the 5% club,” referring to the percentage of GDP each NATO country has committed to.