NEW: An internal NATO poll seen by POLITICO shows the U.S. now has the alliance’s lowest confidence that allies would honor Article 5 if attacked: 43%. Support for NATO remains broad. But Trump’s rhetoric appears to be changing how Americans view allied solidarity. www.politico.eu/article/us-n...

US public sours on NATO in wake of Trump attacks, internal poll shows

Just 43 percent of American adults believe Europe would help them if attacked, while support for China and Russia is on the rise.

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NEW: NATO allies are split over a €26B plan to extend the alliance’s Cold War-era fuel pipeline network east and north. Backers say it is needed to move troops and fuel in a crisis. Others question the cost, timing and 30-year infrastructure bet. www.politico.eu/article/cost...

Cost disputes stall NATO’s mammoth military pipeline overhaul

Upgrading NATO’s fuel pipelines would be the most expensive project in the alliance’s history and is splitting member countries.

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Turkey’s NATO summit is becoming a values test for the alliance. Ahead of the July 7-8 Ankara meeting: 225 detained, protests banned, 40,000 police deployed and independent journalists denied accreditation. www.politico.eu/article/rece...

Erdoğan launches crackdown ahead of NATO summit

Campaigners have demanded NATO explain why journalists were denied access to the leaders’ gathering.

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NEW: NATO’s draft Ankara declaration is starting to take shape. Diplomats told us the draft names Russia as a long-term threat, pledges €70B for Ukraine for 2 years, commits billions in arms deals, vows to develop deep strike & mentions Iran. w/@laukaya.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO allies to pledge billions in arms deals, Ukraine aid at Ankara summit

They are also considering references to the U.S. war in Iran as part of the draft summit declaration, NATO diplomats told POLITICO.

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Washington’s drawdown from NATO war plans starts now, not later. Rutte says Europe and Canada have already covered most of the gap. The harder question is what happens where there is no like-for-like European replacement — especially strategic bombers. www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Europe has replaced ‘most’ forces removed by US from NATO plans, Rutte says

European allies are expected to finalize talks on replacing U.S. capabilities by next month’s NATO summit.

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NEW: NATO allies want to give SACEUR more room to respond to drone incursions. The practical problem is national caveats: NATO is expected to move quickly when drones enter allied airspace, but capitals still control how and where many weapons can be used. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO allies seek to give top commander more freedom to shoot down drones

A new proposal would give U.S. General Alexus Grynkewich greater flexibility in setting military alert levels and shifting air defense assets.

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NEW: NATO allies discussed strengthening drone defenses days after a Russian drone crashed into an apartment block in Romania. The question for the eastern flank is no longer only what crosses NATO airspace — but how quickly the alliance can respond. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO allies mull fast-tracking drone purchases amid growing aerial threats

The alliance is also looking to agree on drone-related initiatives at its Ankara summit next month.

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NEW: Andrius Kubilius is looking at a new joint funding scheme for capabilities Europe still mostly relies on the U.S. to provide, like ISR, command systems and logistics. But the cost of replacing them could run past €200B. w/@jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social pro.politico.eu/news/219679

NEW: NATO allies are weighing a €70B military aid pledge for Ukraine at next month’s Ankara summit. Europe is trying to lock in consistent support after U.S. aid dried up — all while rebalancing funding more fairly among the alliance's 32 allies. pro.politico.eu/news/219561

The key tension in Kyiv: Ukraine says money alone is no longer enough. Patriot deliveries have slowed, stockpiles are strained, and NATO’s PURL funding is behind schedule — just as Zelenskyy heads toward the July summit looking for concrete commitments. www.politico.eu/article/zele...

Zelenskyy presses allies for missiles as NATO arms funding lags

NATO chief Mark Rutte suggested Kyiv’s allies had donated $1 billion for the alliance’s PURL scheme — far behind a $12 billion goal set for this year.

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NEW: NATO’s Ankara summit guest list is worth watching: von der Leyen, Costa, Zelenskyy, Indo-Pacific leaders and Gulf foreign ministers are now expected around the table. It says less about formal NATO business than about the politics Rutte has to manage around it. pro.politico.eu/news/219310

Gotland is a useful glimpse of Europe’s defense problem now: A Baltic island NATO cannot afford to lose, Russian pressure below the threshold of war, Ukrainian drones exposing old assumptions — and a harder question over how much U.S. support Europe can count on. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO prepares a Baltic fortress to head off Putin

Gotland is preparing for a Russian attack while traditional security ties with the U.S. fray.

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Washington told allies it will gradually scale down the number of strategic bombers, fighter jets, drones, submarines and warships dedicated to NATO as it continues pressing Europe to do more for its own defense. www.politico.eu/article/us-t...

US to pull jets, destroyers and submarines from NATO as part of European drawdown

The U.S. has not given any clear timeline for the withdrawal, as it seeks to pare back its commitments to the alliance.

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NATO’s top military commander on Tuesday said he did not expect further U.S. troop withdrawals soon, as allies privately pressed him to plug the gap created by Donald Trump’s move to pull thousands of soldiers from Europe. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO’s top commander downplays US troop withdrawal

Washington will not pull more than 5,000 troops from Europe in the “near term,” said NATO’s top commander, U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich.

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NEW: NATO's Mark Rutte asked allies to devote 0.25% of GDP to Ukraine to cement a regular flow of cash to Kyiv ease growing NATO tensions burden sharing. But the proposal is running into stiff resistance from some major allies like France and the UK. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO’s Rutte asks allies for billions more in Ukraine aid

But the idea for allies to commit 0.25 percent of their GDP to Kyiv is running into opposition from countries like France and the U.K.

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Let the bidding war begin. At least five NATO countries on Europe's eastern flank are scrambling to ask for American troops on their soil after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pull 5,000 or more soldiers from Germany. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO’s frontline countries jockey for US troops after Trump’s Germany withdrawal

Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania are scrambling to make their case for fresh American troops, leveraging their support for the U.S. war in Iran.

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NEW: After Donald Trump’s move to cut thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, one of the units likely to go is a specialized force that was supposed to bring Tomahawk missiles to Europe. Without it, Berlin and its allies are left with a yawning gap in their defenses/ www.politico.eu/article/berl...

Berlin faces missile gap after Trump’s troop cuts

Germany had been counting on American missiles to deter Russia, but those resources may not be coming.

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NEW: Mark Rutte will have only two tools at his disposal as he scrambles to stave off the latest NATO crisis at a high-stakes White House meeting on Wednesday: persuasion and his personal relationship with Donald Trump. w/ @elistokols.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Trump on the warpath is Rutte’s toughest test yet

With recriminations growing between the U.S. and Europe, NATO’s leader will try again to avoid an all-out rupture.

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NEW: Trump administration officials have begun warning countries that U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine may be interrupted in the coming months as the Pentagon prioritizes their use for the war in Iran. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

US officials tell allies Iran war could delay Ukraine weapons shipments

The warning comes as the U.S. burns through air defense interceptors and other weapons in its military campaign against Tehran.

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NEW: Talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz remain deadlocked amid confusion over Donald Trump’s call for support to U.S. allies, per 4 European govt officials. So far, Washington has not made any requests for equipment. @estwebber.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/donl...

Trump’s ‘absurdly incoherent’ Iran pleas leave allies befuddled

European countries have ruled out helping secure the Strait of Hormuz until the conflict is over — but also haven’t received any specific requests for assistance from the U.S.

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Mark Rutte’s tried-and-tested approach to dealing with Donald Trump is coming under strain as his war in Iran opens up fresh fault lines inside NATO. A lack of consensus and NATO’s limited role in Iran make this crisis particularly hard to resolve. www.politico.eu/article/iran...

Iran war tests Rutte’s NATO Trump strategy

A lack of consensus and NATO’s limited role in the Middle East make the crisis particularly hard for the alliance chief to resolve.

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NEW: NATO countries are pushing back against the idea of a mission to Iran after Donald Trump threatened a “very bad future” for the alliance. But an alliance mission in Iran remains improbable for now, according to four NATO diplomats. w/ @sebstarcevic.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Don’t ‘blackmail’ us: Europe rejects Trump’s demand to help clean up Hormuz mess

“This is not Europe’s war,” the EU tells Washington in a bruising rebuke on Iran even as oil prices rise.

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NEW: Czechia is on track to slash its core defense spending to below 2 percent of GDP this year, setting it on a collision course with U.S. President Donald Trump — and the country’s NATO allies. w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

NATO’s next villain: Czechia

Prague is on track to spend less than 2 percent of its GDP on defense, setting it on a collision course with the U.S. and other NATO allies.

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NEW: The U.S. is pushing NATO to slash many of its foreign activities including ending an alliance mission in Iraq. The U.S. is also lobbying to scale down NATO’s Kosovo op & and keep Ukraine from participating in the alliance’s annual summit in Ankara. www.politico.eu/article/us-p...

US presses NATO for major reset, ending mission in Iraq

The push by Washington, which also wants to scale down a peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, has become known internally as a “return to factory settings,” four diplomats told POLITICO.

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NEW: NATO should redistribute counter-drone equipment, radars and air defense missiles as part of a new 'Black Sea Sentry' to deter Russia, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruță told POLITICO. www.politico.eu/article/roma...

Romania calls for NATO Black Sea mission

The plea comes as Romania faces mounting aerial and maritime security threats from Russia, Defense Minister Radu Miruță says.

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NEW: Europe must emerge as a geopolitical power that speaks in a “direct and clear” way to the US, Latvian PM Evika Siliņa told POLITICO. Siliņa said she would support a new European Security Council and was open to Latvia joining talks on a shared nuclear deterrent. www.politico.eu/article/evik...

No ‘business as usual’ with US: Latvian PM

Evika Siliņa said that a more decisive Europe may have some new moves in its dance with the U.S.

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NEW: More European countries are publicly backing talks on a homegrown nuclear deterrent to complement American atomic weapons following an erosion of trust in a Donald Trump-led U.S. w/ @laukaya.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Nuke-talk is heating up among Europeans in Munich

‘Nuclear deterrence can give us new opportunities. Why not?’ Latvian PM tells POLITICO.

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NEW: NATO is beefing up its Arctic presence in a move designed less to deter Russia than Donald Trump. Ahead of today's NATO summit, diplomats & experts said the effort is mostly a rebranding exercise to appease Trump — in response to an exaggerated threat. www.politico.eu/article/nato...

NATO deploys to Greenland to keep Trump onside

The alliance’s Arctic Sentry is mostly a rebranding exercise aimed at appeasing the U.S. president — in response to a largely exaggerated threat.

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NEW: The U.K. has agreed to spend £150 million to buy U.S. weapons for Ukraine, becoming the latest ally to join NATO’s signature PURL scheme that supplies critical arms to Kyiv. w/ @estwebber.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/uk-j...

UK to join NATO’s US arms-buying scheme for Ukraine

London will contribute £150 million to the PURL program, as allies increasingly come under pressure to supply weapons to Ukraine.

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NEW: A major pullback of U.S. troops from European soil is unlikely in the near future. Since the start of the year, the U.S. has told allies any withdrawal would be very limited, govt officials from 7 European countries said. w/ @paulmcleary.bsky.social & Jack Detsch pro.politico.eu/news/212852