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NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, poses with NATO defense ministers and industry representatives during the opening of the NATO Defense Industry Forum on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Associated Press<\/p>\n
ANKARA, Turkey \u2014 President Donald Trump<\/a> on Tuesday insisted that the United States should be in control of Greenland<\/a> rather than NATO ally Denmark, renewing tensions in Europe even as the trans-Atlantic military alliance was announcing billions in arms deals at a summit in an attempt to appease<\/a> the mercurial U.S. leader.<\/p>\n Trump called the semiautonomous island \u201can important part\u201d for the United States, as he repeated the false claim<\/a> that it\u2019s surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships and said he won’t let Greenland be threatened.<\/p>\n \u201cThat should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark,\u201d Trump told reporters during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan<\/a> in Ankara.<\/p>\n The NATO alliance was founded on the principle that its 32 members will defend each others\u2019 territory and not threaten to seize it. At the summit, European countries and the alliance\u2019s secretary-general, Mark Rutte<\/a>, were already working overtime to address another longstanding Trump complaint: that European allies do not spend enough on their own defense.<\/p>\n Separately, Trump announced that the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defense system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program \u2014 in a nod to his warm ties with summit host Erdogan<\/a>.<\/p>\n Trump cites Erdogan \u2018chemistry\u2019 as he lifts an obstacle on F-35s<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s purchase in 2019 of Russian-made S-400<\/a> missile defense systems sparked years of tensions, despite the warm personal relationship between Trump and Erdogan dating back to the U.S. president’s first term.<\/p>\n Legal hurdles remain before Turkey could be fully admitted back to the U.S. F-35 program, but the removal of sanctions issued under the Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act would help ease that process. Regaining access to the F-35s is a top goal of Erdogan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?\u201d Trump said in response to a question, saying Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were working on the issue.<\/p>\n Trump said the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey is \u201csomething certainly we\u2019d consider\u201d given the countries’ relationship, and that \u201cTurkey\u2019s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.\u201d<\/p>\n Erdogan expressed hope that the U.S. will sell the F-35s, saying the U.S. president always stands by his word.<\/p>\n Trump and Erdogan showed off their fondness for each other. Erdogan greeted Trump with an elaborate ceremony involving military officials on horseback and jets overhead emitting red, white and blue smoke.<\/p>\n Asked what makes their relationship so strong, Trump said there\u2019s \u201ca chemistry that works between us,” adding that \u201cSometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey’s access to U.S. F-35s could complicate relationships elsewhere. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> said he has urged Trump not to sell the fighter jets to Turkey, saying it would put Israel in danger.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a force for peace and stability,\u201d Netanyahu said on CNN. \u201cWhen you give them that power, you\u2019re going to see aggression its wake.\u201d<\/p>\n There is also opposition among U.S. lawmakers to Turkey having the F-35s as long as the Russian missile defense system remains in its possession. Even if sanctions are lifted, the Trump administration still faces restrictions under U.S. law that prevents Turkey from being able to purchase the fighter jets if it owns the S-400s.<\/p>\n NATO has \u2018moment of great pride\u2019 on defense<\/p>\n Earlier in the day, NATO showcased military projects worth billions of dollars \u2014 an investment Rutte called \u201cmoney well spent” and one clearly meant to try to satisfy Trump.<\/p>\n Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO\u2019s \u201cbig reveal,\u201d to the thrum of techno music.<\/p>\n NATO does not own weapons \u2014 these are the property of member countries \u2014 but it has 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with newer surveillance drones.<\/p>\n A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will supply up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a moment of great pride,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Some projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans<\/a> for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.<\/p>\n Representatives from 15 nations announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus. Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones.<\/p>\n Rutte had told reporters on the eve of the two-day summit<\/a> that \u201cwe will announce tens of billions in new contracts.\u201d However, at Tuesday’s event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s Zelenskyy pushes for NATO entry<\/p>\n Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a> made a fresh appeal for his country to be allowed to join the alliance, saying his country’s armed forces are highly experienced and would boost NATO’s defense capabilities.<\/p>\n He highlighted Ukraine\u2019s ability to strike deep inside Russia and hit oil refineries and other energy targets. He said Ukraine\u2019s armed forces are \u201celiminating\u201d on average 30,000 Russian troops every month. He is set to meet with Trump on Wednesday<\/a> in Ankara.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly we take no pride in this,\u201d Zelenskyy said, noting that the war with Russia \u2014 now in its fifth year \u2014 is one “we did not seek but one we are forced to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n Concern is mounting among some European countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack \u2014 a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks \u2014 on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.<\/a><\/p>\n Yet a senior NATO official, speaking on the summit’s sidelines, said that despite some \u201creckless\u201d actions by Russia, including airspace violations over Poland, Romania and Estonia, the alliance has been successful in deterring Moscow from any potential attack on a member country. The official insisted on anonymity to brief reporters.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during a formal welcome for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026.(AP Photo\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks out from his car window as he arrives for the NATO Summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Metin Akta\u015f, Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n Police detain protestors during a demonstration outside of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ali Unal)<\/p>\n Two men walk past the NATO logo during the NATO Defense Industry Forum at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hussein Malla)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, center, poses with NATO defense ministers and industry representatives during the opening of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[21133,21124,21119,21140,21146,21147,21123,21128,21126,2014,21127,21132,21122,21145,21139,21121,57,21143,21131,21120,21134,2578,552,21137,38,39,21125,21138,2590,21129,21142,21141,21130,10863,21136,21135,21144],"class_list":["post-124596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-greenland","tag-bruin","tag-butler","tag-butler-eagle","tag-cabot","tag-callery","tag-cherry-valley","tag-community-news","tag-connoquenessing","tag-cranberry","tag-crime","tag-east-butler","tag-eau-claire","tag-education-news","tag-evans-city","tag-fairview","tag-government-news","tag-greenland","tag-harmony","tag-harrisville","tag-high-school-sports-news","tag-karns-city","tag-local-news","tag-mars","tag-mount-chesnut","tag-news","tag-obituaries","tag-pennsylvania","tag-petrolia","tag-political-news","tag-portersville","tag-sarver","tag-saxonburg","tag-slippery-rock","tag-valencia","tag-west-liberty","tag-west-sunbury","tag-zelienople"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1783454712_736_.jpeg\")
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