Nato summit: Trump says US could let Ukraine make Patriots and renews criticism of Spain and UK – as it happened

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Trump renews criticism of Spain and UK

On the perceived lack of support from Spain, France and the UK to the Iran conflict, Trump said “Spain has been very bad, they didn’t help us, but we didn’t need the help.”

He adds the UK “gave an answer weirder than that, I said ‘would you like to help’, they said ‘we would but after the war is over’. This is not in the spirit of Winston Churchill.”

Key events

A summary of today's developments

Peter Beaumont

Peter Beaumont

Donald Trump has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine may be allowed to manufacture Patriot missile interceptors to counter Russian ballistic attacks. It would be a diplomatic coup for Kyiv, which has been struggling to counter Moscow’s increasing missile threat.

The US president’s commitment, however, was vaguely framed, and he admitted he had not spoken to the US defence and aerospace companies Lockheed Martin and RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon) that produce the Patriot system. It also remained unclear how quickly manufacturing of the expensive and complex munitions could be stepped up.

Trump, sitting next to the Ukrainian president at the Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, said: “A little birdie told me this, about the fact that we’ll give them the right to make Patriots. We’ll show them how to do it, it’s very complex actually. But it’s – you’ll figure out the complexity quickly.”

He clarified: “We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough.

However, in a blow to Ukraine’s air defence capabilities in the short-term, Trump indicated that the US would not be able to supply Ukraine quickly with Patriot interceptors from its own stockpile. “We have Patriots, but we don’t have that many. We need them for ourselves too,” Trump said.

And that concludes the press conference in Ankara.

Trump told reporters he would leave the NATO summit in Turkey on the older version of Air Force One because the new plane, a gift from Qatar, was flying to a couple of bases in Europe so soldiers could see it.

He added he has not made his mind on the F35S deal with Turkey.

Trump renews criticism of Spain and UK

On the perceived lack of support from Spain, France and the UK to the Iran conflict, Trump said “Spain has been very bad, they didn’t help us, but we didn’t need the help.”

He adds the UK “gave an answer weirder than that, I said ‘would you like to help’, they said ‘we would but after the war is over’. This is not in the spirit of Winston Churchill.”

Trump discusses deals made with Iran by the Obama administration and claims “if I were not president, Israel would not exist”.

He adds the Iran war will be concluded quickly and they might launch fresh strikes tonight.

He also insisted that the US was “not looking for long term”.

Trump also describes Iran’s leaders as “crazy” and “lunatics”.

Trump repeats he is “number one on the kill list for Iran” but he does not care and he is doing his job. He adds he likes “being number one on TikTok better”.

On previously calling Iranian leaders “rational people,” Trump replied: “I got to know them. They are more rational but based on their actions over the week of two, they are not doing a service to their people. I’m not sure I want to do a deal with them, just finish the job.”

He reiterates Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

In response to a question on the dangers of communism, Trump says “Communism is easy to sell. I would be the greaest Communist in history, I would be right up there with Lenin. You have free rent for the rest of your life, what they don’t tell you is you would be living in squalor.”

He adds “communism has been a disaster.”

Trump reiterates a succession of Iran leaders “are gone”, adding he is their number one target and describes them as “scum” who have killed thousands of protesters.

Iran 'a tremendous military success' claims Trump

Moving onto questions, the first is about the Iran war. Trump said: “Iran war has been a tremendous military success. They are not going to have a nuclear weapon.”

He adds the oil prices are lower and reiterates Iran’s ships and military has been decimated.

Trump also claims he is number one on TikTok ahead of some celebrity entertainers who he does not name.

Back to more serious matters, he said at the NATO summit £3 billion worth of investments was announced with US defence companies including drone technology.

On Iran, Trump said 159 Iranian ships were “at the bottom of the sea” and it does not have much military capability left.

The US president said defence spending by other NATO members was $150 billion in 2025.

But he warned it has to produce defensive equipment faster, adding the U.S. is rapidly trying to upscale defence production.

Trump says NATO and other countries were “laughing at us” two years ago, but now he believes that has changed. He adds the US remains the largest contributor to NATO financially.

He added NATO is making great progress towards the 5% defence spending target.

Trump praises Erdogan and Rutte at Nato summit

Trump begins on a positive note praising Turkey’s president Erdogan as a “great man” and NATO secretary general Mark Rutte for the work they have done.

He also mentions the talks that have taken place in Ankara and believes “the world is doing well”.

Trump adds Iran’s military was “essentially demolished” in two weeks and says US has the strongest military in the world.

Trump addresses the media after Nato summit in Ankara

Trump is, finally, here.

I will bring you all the lines here, or you can watch below.

Trump speaks at the NATO summit in Ankara – watch live

Denmark is ready to defend every inch of NATO, including the kingdom of Denmark, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said in Ankara, a day after U.S. president Donald Trump reiterated that Greenland should be controlled by the U.S.

Greenland’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen also rejected Trump’s remarks on Wednesday.

“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO, including our own territory... Of course we will defend the Kingdom of Denmark,” Frederiksen said, reiterating that Greenland was not for sale.

She added: “One of the reasons why we have built NATO many, many years ago, is if anything happens to one of us, then everybody should stand up for each other.”

Jakub Krupa

Jakub Krupa

As we are still waiting for Donald Trump, I am handing the blog over to Nadeem Badshah, who will guide you through the press conference when it finally happens.