Trump calls NATO ‘paper tiger’, accuses allies of not supporting war on Iran

US President Donald Trump has accused NATO allies of abandoning Washington during its confrontation with Iran, claiming European governments failed to support the United States despite decades of American military and financial backing.

The remarks came ahead of the NATO summit in Ankara, where alliance leaders gathered to discuss a major expansion of militarism and increased military spending.

Speaking alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, Trump said he had been "testing" NATO members by seeking their support during the US military aggression against Iran.

"In a way, I was testing people. I was testing to see whether or not they would be there because I have long said that we help them, but I am not sure that they would be there for us," Trump said.

Trump accused several European governments of refusing to stand with Washington, naming Italy, Germany and France.

"Italy turned us down and Germany turned us down and France turned us down," he said. "Why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars, and they are not there for us, we are always there for them."

He also questioned NATO's ability to survive without US financial backing, reviving his longstanding demands that European allies spend more on military and contribute more directly to the alliance.

Washington has reportedly begun weighing punitive measures against allies based on their level of support during the war on Iran. Pentagon officials have floated the possibility of suspending Spain from the alliance after Madrid allegedly refused to allow the use of its military bases, ports and airspace for strikes on Iran.

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But Trump's claims have drawn scrutiny as reports indicate that several US allies played a significant role in supporting the military terrorism against Iran, including through access to bases, logistics and operational infrastructure.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said thousands of US military missions were conducted from European bases during the aggression, including 500 aircraft departures from US facilities in Italy.

Overall, Rutte said between 4,000 and 5,000 flight missions were carried out from European locations in support of the terrorist campaign.

Italy, in particular, faced political controversy after reports highlighted the role of US bases on Italian soil. Rome claimed it had not authorized its territory to be used for direct attacks on Iran and insisted that any approved activities were limited to technical and logistical support.

Iran rejected the excuse, stressing that Italy’s technical and logistical support for the US-Israeli war of aggression amounted to a “clear and direct” role in the illegal military assault.

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The dispute has exposed a familiar fault line within NATO: Trump's use of military commitments as leverage in demanding greater political and financial concessions from allies, and European governments' concerns that Washington is turning collective obligations into transactional bargaining.

Trump's latest criticism follows years of pressure on NATO members to increase military spending that would mean increased weapons purchases from the United States, often accompanied by threats to reduce US commitments if allies do not meet Washington's demands.

European officials have repeatedly warned that such rhetoric risks weakening alliance cohesion even as they increase defense budgets.

At the Ankara summit, Washington pushed NATO members to raise military spending to 5% of gross domestic product by 2035, accelerating pressure on European governments to expand armed forces and weapons arsenal.

Germany has already moved toward higher spending, approving a draft 2027 budget that increases military allocations by nearly one-third to around $125 billion. Berlin's military expenditure is projected to exceed $200 billion by 2030 as it expands weapons procurement and modernizes its armed forces.

In a noted submission to Trump, the summit announced at least $50 billion in new military contracts covering transport aircraft, surveillance systems, drones, missile programs, satellite initiatives and ammunition production as part of Washington's broader "NATO 3.0" strategy.

Under the strategy, European allies are expected to assume greater military responsibility while the United States shifts more military resources toward the Asia-Pacific.

NATO members continue providing military assistance to Ukraine, with Germany's proposed 2027 budget allocating billions of dollars for military support as European governments deepen long-term commitments to Kiev’s war with Russia.

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