US President Donald Trump meets with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, for bilateral talks at Beştepe Presidential Compound during the NATO Summit on July 8, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Hours after throwing some stinging jabs towards NATO members, President Donald Trump ended his trip to Ankara today with what appeared to be a more upbeat attitude toward the alliance and toward Ukraine, which he said could soon be allowed to produce their own Patriot air defense systems.
“I just want to say there was tremendous love in that room,” Trump told reporters at the NATO Leaders Summit today, also praising the alliance’s “unification.”
“We kept it short . … It was very smart people, and they have a lot of good in their heart, not evil, good,” he later added.
Trump’s comments came at the tail end of the highly anticipated summit focusing on a range of issues, from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine to alliance defense spending levels. Earlier in the summit, Trump had once again brought up his desire to control Greenland, pointedly criticized the Spanish government, and threatened to pull US troops out of Europe.
