President Donald Trump said it is "ridiculous" for the United States to maintain its current level of support for NATO, describing the transatlantic relationship as "not reciprocal" in a post on his Truth Social platform on Thursday, according to Euronews.

"They were not there for us!!!" Trump wrote, sharing a chart that showed US defence spending far exceeding that of other members, Euronews reported. The remarks landed less than a week before NATO's 32 member states are due to meet for a summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7 and 8, which Trump is expected to attend.

Euronews reported that Trump has repeatedly criticized European allies over their response to the 2026 war in Iran and that he wants Europe to take the lead in its own defence, with Washington already moving to scale back some commitments.

The spending backdrop

The friction builds on a spending pledge that allies made under pressure from Washington. At the alliance's summit in The Hague, members committed to raising annual defence spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035, up from the 2 percent benchmark set in 2014, according to Euronews and NATO. Under that pledge, 3.5 percent would go to core military capabilities such as troops, weapons and equipment, with a further 1.5 percent directed to broader priorities including cybersecurity and critical infrastructure.

NATO says the Ankara agenda will build on that commitment and continue military assistance to Ukraine, and that a Defence Industry Forum will convene on July 7 to discuss defence production, investment and innovation.

A recurring theme

Trump's complaint is not new. The Chicago Council on Global Affairs noted that since returning to the White House he has "fixated on burden sharing," and that when foreign ministers met in May ahead of the summit, the issue dominated the conversation. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote that the alliance's mood has changed heading into Ankara.

Washington has already moved to scale back some commitments, according to Euronews, though the United States remains a NATO member and Trump is expected in Ankara.

What to watch

Analysts at the Carnegie Endowment and the Chicago Council frame the questions for Ankara as whether Trump's public pressure produces concrete changes in the US role, how European members and host Turkey respond, and how allies will fund the higher spending targets they have already endorsed, alongside continued support for Ukraine.