NATO 2026 ended with more of a whimper than a bang.
US President Donald Trump once again rattled the sabres upon arrival with his well-shaken string of complaints about Europe, but departed praising the “unity” and love shown by allies.
He offered Ukraine permission to produce its own anti-missile patriot defence systems, although it was not clear when this would begin.
And in a reprieve for all, NATO leaders wrapped up their summit without setting a date for their next gathering.
This could give Europeans the space to delay regrouping until 2029, when the check-up on last year’s spending commitments is due, which would mean that this year’s summit could even be Mr Trump’s last.
This year’s summit underscored how much tension is caused simply by the process of meeting.
Mr Trump said the only reason he attended this year was that the host was Turkish President, strongman Recep Erdogan, whom he praised as a “military power”.
As Mr Trump arrived in Ankara, he was back at it, threatening Greenland once more and reviving his complaints that European allies did not support his war in Iran.
Mr Trump’s demands that Europe and Canada do more are no longer a point of contention but one of vigorous agreement right across Europe, even if some are making good on their words compared to others.
But none of that justifies the threat to invade Greenland, which is administered by a fellow-NATO ally and his constant undermining of Article 5, the mutual defence clause.
As he ranted, Mark Rutte sat next to him, smiling, with what could easily be perceived as agreement, as Mr Trump railed against Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez, who has refused to sign up to the 3.5 per cent NATO target agreed last year and accused the Spanish leader of being difficult to his NATO pal.
Mr Trump, again, threatened to cut trade ties with Spain.
Mr Rutte became the butt of many jokes when, during last year’s bilateral meeting with Mr Trump, he referred to the US leader as “Daddy”.
Many Europeans have subsequently feared that not only does he go too far in his flattery, but that it has real implications.
Last month, for example, Mr Rutte went on Fox News and revealed that hundreds of US flights involved in the war in Iran had taken off from Italian airbases.
He meant well — he was trying to explain to Mr Trump’s MAGA-Eurosceptic base that Europe had actually played a vital part in supporting the war on Iran.
The problem was that this was not the message that European leaders have been telling their equally Trump-sceptic voters at home.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni hit back, suggesting the NATO boss was overenthusiastic and confused.
So when Mr Trump revived his complaints about Greenland and Iran — a war he revived overnight, calling the Iranian regime scum and loco — it injected a new dose of fear and concern.
“Mark, you sit next to Donald Trump in moments where he talks about conquering Greenland, talks about lashing out at allies like Spain, starting trade wars, things that it does not seem like the old Mark Rutte would approve of. Does this have any effect on your self-respect when you sit next to him like that and say nothing?” chastised a Danish journalist at a later press conference.
“What I always do is acknowledge when praise is due, and I think we should praise Donald Trump for the fact that NATO is so much stronger,” Mr Rutte said.
But by the time Mr Trump arrived on the NATO stage two-and-a-half hours late to a standing-room-only press conference, journalists spent hours lining up for a spot, the president was once again appeased.
Granted, the 80-year-old did not seem his past self. He appeared to be slurring, repeated himself incessantly and rambled incoherently more than usual, at one point declaring that he’d be a better communist than Lenin, which he pronounced as “Leneen”.
Compared to his performance at The Hague a year ago, he appeared very much a president in decline. Earlier in the day, he made a series of gaffes, referring to Japan as the “Islamic Republic of Japan.”
But they may go down as the lowlights. The short six-point communique restated the commitment to Article 5, the mutual defence pact that Mr Trump has repeatedly undermined, and reaffirmed support for Ukraine.
Lost in the preference for brevity was any mention of China, despite Mr Rutte’s reassurance that NATO was “on it” regarding this week’s missile launch by the PLA-Navy in the South Pacific.
Included was support for Mr Trump’s ambition to “de-nuke” Iran, although there was no allied commitment to supporting the restarted war in any meaningful way.
Mr Trump heaped praise on the leaders he was savaging hours before, describing them as “very smart people” with “a lot of good in their heart, not evil, good”.
He said he wished the press could have been allowed to watch the meeting to observe the “tremendous unity”.
“There was tremendous love in that room,” he said.
But added that he didn’t want to say that it was all for him, “because you’ll say, ‘Oh, he’s so conceited. He’s such a conceited person’.”
“Maybe they’re trying to get to me. And in a way they did,” he added.
When he read from his script, he was even more effusive.
NATO partners, he said, were ready to honour their commitments to spending up.
“I think I can say in all cases they’re going to be answering the call and well in taking in over a trillion dollars a year towards defence,” he said.
That trillion-dollar figure didn’t come from nowhere.
Last month, Mr Rutte visited Mr Trump in the White House and unveiled a giant chart that he said displayed the “Trump Trillion” in NATO defence spending that had been assigned since the US President returned to power.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz who angered Mr Trump with his criticisms of the Iran war, was also full of praise.
“President Trump participated in all of today’s discussions without exception, remaining in the meeting room the entire time,” he said.
“And what struck me was his attentive listening to the representatives of the smaller member states.
“He was very aware of what was happening in those smaller member states and showed great empathy.
“I’m returning to Germany with the secure feeling that we have made a significant contribution to ensuring that NATO remains united, that it becomes stronger, that it becomes more European.”
Say what you like about Mr Rutte’s methods, but there is no doubt that they work.
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