Trump Criticises NATO Allies for Refusing Support in Iran War

US President Donald Trump criticised NATO's European members for refusing to back his administration's confrontation with Iran, telling the alliance's summit in Ankara that he questioned why Washington invests so heavily in an alliance that will not follow its lead, according to a report carried by Middle East Eye. Trump reportedly added that he would not have attended the gathering at all were it not for his personal friendship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is hosting the alliance's leaders after being named summit host at the previous meeting in The Hague. The remarks reopen the transatlantic rift that widened in June 2025, when US forces struck Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan during the twelve-day war between Israel and Iran. Most European governments declined to endorse the strikes, urging de-escalation and a return to negotiations instead — the reluctance Trump now cites as evidence that the alliance does not repay American investment. He has long pressured members over burden-sharing, and at the 2025 Hague summit allies agreed, largely at his insistence, to raise defence-related spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. The dispute carries direct weight in the Gulf. Iran's retaliation for the June 2025 strikes targeted Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest US military installation in the Middle East, in an attack Doha condemned as a violation of its sovereignty even as it intercepted the missiles. Qatari mediation then helped seal the ceasefire that ended the Israel-Iran war, and Doha has consistently advocated dialogue with Tehran over military confrontation. Any renewed American push to enlist allies against Iran would again place Gulf states — hosts to US bases yet neighbours of Iran across shared waters and gas fields — on the front line of a war they have worked to prevent.