US President Donald Trump will attend the NATO summit in Turkey next month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Wednesday, amid ongoing concerns over Washington’s commitment to the transatlantic security alliance.
Speaking before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rubio said Trump would participate in the July 7–8 summit in Ankara, where key issues affecting the alliance would be addressed.
“The President himself will be attending the next NATO meeting of heads of state, where all these points will be made clear,” Rubio said. “We’re still in NATO, but NATO needs significant changes.”
Rubio described the gathering of NATO’s 32 member states as potentially the most consequential summit in the alliance’s history, saying unresolved issues within the bloc required urgent attention.
Relations between Washington and several NATO allies have remained strained following European governments’ refusal to join the United States and Israel in military action against Iran. The United States has also reduced its troop presence in parts of Europe.
In separate testimony before Congress on Tuesday, Rubio criticised Spain for declining to allow US forces access to its military bases for operations targeting Iran.
“We have members of that alliance that are basically denying the use of those bases in a contingency,” Rubio said, adding that such actions raise questions about the alliance’s effectiveness and future cooperation.
The upcoming summit is expected to focus on alliance unity, defence commitments and broader security challenges facing NATO members.
