Ankara Summit Special - Trump Tells Allies To “Talk That Talk, Walk That Walk”

The Ankara summit, hosted by Donald Trump’s new BFF Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, quickly turned into Trump’s greatest hits album: Europe doesn’t spend enough, Europe didn’t help enough with Iran, and Europe still expects America to be the world’s 911 service while complaining about the bill. Europe also didn't read the memo.

In the grand tradition of great-power horse-trading, President Donald Trump has arrived to Ankara with a pocket full of sweets for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Sanctions? Lifted.

F-35 fighter jets? "Certainly something we will consider."

It's classic transactional diplomacy - keep the unreliable NATO member sweet so he doesn't wander off into deeper flirtations with Tehran, or whoever's got the best bazaar rates this week.

Turkey stands to gain a lot from playing along.

Lifted sanctions would ease the economic pressure.

A bigger regional role in energy corridors, Black Sea dynamics, and Syria would boost Ankara’s importance without needing an open war with Greece, Cyprus, or Israel.

The carrot might work, because it gives Erdoğan status while avoiding the costs of a hot conflict.

Greece, Israel, and Cyprus - the ones actually doing the US heavy lifting with bases, joint exercises, energy deals - watch this unfold closely.

They’re the reliable partners in the East Med.

Greece - and in extension, Cyprus because who are we kidding, Cypriots and Greeks are brother nations - has been modernizing its air force partly in response to Turkish assertiveness, overflights, maritime claims, and drilling disputes; and doesn't feel supported enough through the EU partners in terms of border security and migration.

Turkey’s ongoing occupation of around 36% of Cyprus since 1974 isn’t helping.

Israel isn’t exactly thrilled either.

Netanyahu’s circle reportedly pleaded against giving advanced F-35s to the "neighborhood bully". Both Greece and Israel would much rather focus on their primary threats instead of pouring endless resources into the "escalate the right way in Ukraine" strategy favored in Brussels.

Notably, US, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, some EU & not-yet-EU countries and even Turkey wouldn't mind a peace with Russia, while the current EU leadership is dug in on maximalist Ukraine support and therefore, for many, "escalating the wrong war."

Trump openly admitted he was “testing” NATO partners when he asked for support against Iran.

France, Germany, Italy, and the UK apparently failed with flying colors.

They talked a big game but delivered very little when actual help was needed in the Strait of Hormuz.

These two fronts are fundamentally different.

Trump wants to handle the quickly accelerating Iran/Middle East fire first, where the Iranian regime is actively using the current chaos to attack everybody in the region, including fresh strikes on Kuwait’s international airport, UAE targets, and other Gulf infrastructure just last night.

He’s also talking to Putin on the phone, clearly looking for a way to wind down Ukraine.

The message for the EU leaders is blunt: you wanted this war, you fund it. Europe’s problem now.

The current EU leadership - von der Leyen, Kallas, some big Western capitals - is escalating the “wrong war.” While Trump juggles priorities in the Middle East and looks for off-ramps, the small dog in Brussels keeps barking loudly at Russia.

At the same time, the EU is desperately throwing money at alternative suppliers - recent deals in Azerbaijan, LNG terminals, North Africa outreach - in a frantic bid to replace lost Russian gas and oil.

It's the wrong strategy: punishing one supplier while overpaying others, combined with green mandates and sanctions blowback, has left Europe deindustrializing at record speed.

This stance isn’t even popular with EU citizens anymore.

The EU’s much-hyped “war readiness” agenda - all those dramatic speeches about strategic autonomy and joint defense funds - suddenly looks suspiciously like it was preparing for a completely different movie.

NATO and even the EU are not a monolith. The current Brussels line delays any serious talks with Russia and leaves the US and East Med partners hedging the burning Middle East.

Interesting times.