This Tuesday, NATO leaders land in Ankara for an annual summit. The pre-negotiated statement promises an iron-clad 32-member family committed to collective protection. However, the official documents are not always reflecting the reality.
Last Thursday, Donald Trump blasted again his allies on Truth Social, saying that Europe abandoned the US with its Iran war and it is “ridiculous” for Washington to keep up its one-sided relationship with NATO.
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It's a bold statement, so let’s look at the raw numbers to see if its most powerful member is right about it.
Reports show a massive 20 percent surge year on year in core defence spending across Europe and Canada. In simple English, the allies injected an extra $258 billion into the pot over the last two years.
NATO Secretary General points out that allies have spent 1 trillion dollars, on defence since Trump’s first administration. He even calls it “The Trump Trillion” to flatter the White House while demanding it turns into combat-ready capabilities.
Finally, NATO members even pledged to hit a massive 5 percent GDP defence target by 2035 to build a revamped NATO 3.0.
However, here is a problem: this math does not change the cold reality on the ground, even if big chunk of that cash flows straight back to US defence firms.
Washington is shrinking its wartime resource pool and withholding long range bombers, fighter jets, submarines and warships from European command. And Mathew Whittaker, so US Ambassador to NATO, warns that Europeans cannot freeride on American taxpayers.
Moreover, Trump's absolute leverage comes down to artificial intelligence. The US controls the monopoly on next-generation military AI models like Claude Mythos. Washington treats this software as a tactical weapon, enforcing strict export bans so Trump decides which ally receives digital protection and which country gets left behind.
So it seems like buying a trillion-dollar ticket does not buy permanent American protection. Europe is paying the bill for this alliance, but Washington still holds the keys.
Watch the Euronews video in the player above for the full story.