Trump declares ceasefire with Iran over during angry broadside at Nato summit

Trump Says Ceasefire with Iran Has Ended at NATO Summit in Ankara

Donald Trump stated that the ceasefire with Iran is over upon his arrival at the NATO summit in Ankara. He made the remarks while seated next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and addressed several topics including Iran, alliance defense spending, and Greenland.

The United States conducted strikes on more than 80 Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz overnight and revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that had allowed Tehran to export oil. These actions followed Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels on Tuesday. When asked whether the ceasefire remained in place, Trump said: “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more. They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people and they’re vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they’d use it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over.” He added that US negotiators still wanted to continue talks.

European leaders had noted Trump’s demeanor after a NATO dinner on Tuesday night and anticipated a challenging session on Wednesday as developments in the Middle East continued. Trump’s comments began with Iran and then covered other longstanding points of disagreement. He said he was “very upset with Nato” and stated that alliance members “didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran.” This referred to the refusal by most European countries, apart from the United Kingdom, to permit US bombing missions from European airbases.

Trump specifically mentioned the United Kingdom’s initial decision not to allow use of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire for operations against Iran. He said the restriction lasted two weeks and required US aircraft to return to other bases. The British prime minister, Keir Starmer, later permitted limited strikes on Iranian missile sites.

Trump renewed his position on Greenland, describing it as “a big problem for us” and “very important for the United States, but it’s not important for Denmark.” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated upon arrival that Denmark would defend “every inch” of its territory and that Greenland was “of course not for sale.”

On defense spending, Trump repeated his criticism that the United States pays “far, far too much” and that the arrangement is “unfair.” Last year all NATO members except Spain agreed to raise defense budgets to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product by 2035. Trump directed particular criticism at Spain for rejecting the target, telling Rutte: “Spain doesn’t agree to anything, and you shouldn’t carry them. I don’t want to do any trade with them, alright?” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded affirmatively.

Rutte responded to the remarks by noting only a few “isolated cases” in which European allies had restricted US air operations related to Iran. On Greenland, Rutte referred to an earlier agreement reached at the Davos summit under which NATO aircraft would conduct patrols over the Arctic. He also stated that Trump had succeeded in persuading allies to increase defense spending to US levels by 2035, an outcome previous US presidents had not achieved. Rutte said, “You did what [president Dwight] Eisenhower tried to do. It’s your win.” Trump replied, “That’s why I like him.”

Spanish government sources responded that the country maintains “an excellent social, cultural and economic relationship with the US” and has no intention of altering that relationship. NATO leaders had prepared a short draft communique in advance of the Ankara meeting to restate the alliance’s commitment to mutual self-defense. A Bloomberg report indicated that NATO might not convene a summit in 2027, partly to avoid repetition of the exchanges that occurred during the current gathering. The summit had been intended to highlight more than $50 billion in joint arms procurements intended to demonstrate increased defense spending by members to deter Russian aggression.

Additional reporting by Sam Jones in Madrid.