It was an abrupt swing from antagonism to affection within the space of a few short hours, illustrating the wide range of emotions exhibited by the mercurial US leader.
“It was a great meeting, there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity,” Trump told reporters after the closed-door meeting of 32 heads of state at the NATO summit in the Turkish capital Ankara.
Behind closed doors, Trump had reassured them he wanted the US to stay in the military alliance, saying: “We want to remain with you”, a source inside the session told AFP.
And that was reflected in the final declaration in which NATO leaders reaffirmed their “ironclad commitment” to the mutual assistance clause enshrined in Article 5 of the alliance treaty.
“An attack on one is an attack on all,” it said, in wording that sought to ease concerns about Washington’s commitment to the alliance.
But the day had not begun well with Trump lashing out over NATO allies’ failure to back his Iran campaign just before the session, threatening to cut trade with Spain, and insisting he still wants NATO member Denmark’s territory of Greenland.
“I’m very upset with NATO … because of what they did with Greenland, and … because of the fact that they didn’t want to help us with the number one state sponsor of terror, that’s Iran,” he said.
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