Trump can make Ibsen’s words his own: «Whether I hammer or am hammered, there shall nevertheless be wailing.» No matter what Trump achieves, it shall be dragged down. He is accused of bowing to Iran, and of having lost the war. When he wants to put Iran in its place, he is told that he is unpredictable and risky.

The media are playing a cynical game that the politicians follow up. NTB’s Bibiana Dahle Piene makes a selective selection in order to be able to say that this has been the worst year in NATO’s history.

The past year has possibly been among the worst in NATO’s history, with Trump’s threats to take Greenland and constant attacks on allies. Therefore the recipe from previous NATO summits is repeated: Placate Trump and say a prayer for a positive outcome.

«Steel themselves» was Dahle Piene’s headline: Nato steels itself for Trump.

Støre let his irritation out on Trump:

– We are not here to make a leader happy. Whether he becomes happy or not, I do not care particularly much about.

Trump tolerates being contradicted, but not being badmouthed. Europe wants to wage war against Russia, and is completely dependent on the USA, and demands that the Americans step up. If there is one thing Trump under no circumstances wants to be, it is a tail-end to a Europe on the way down.

The thing is to escalate in order to prove that Trump – like Document – only gets worse and worse.

Concern surrounding Trump has become so great that NATO is already now considering cancelling next year’s summit in Albania, several media report.

This appears to be a self-inflicted hysteria that the European elite is suffering from. They are taking their sorrows in advance. Trump said:

– Quite honestly, if the summit had not been held in Turkey, where my friend (President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ed. note) actually is a very strong leader, a strong person, then it is possible that I would not have been here.

President Donald Trump speaks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during a formal welcome for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Mafiosi

It is incomprehensible that Trump is so tight with Erdogan. Together the two looked like old mafiosi.

Erdogan has kneecapped Turkish democracy, and that Trump has to relate to. He cannot rebuke the EU for being authoritarian, only to cosy up to Erdogan.

This is a development that has been visible for a while. Most clearly expressed by Trump keeping the door open for al-Shaara in Syria, who lets militias kill Christians, Alawites and Druze.

To let Erdogan buy F-35s is an expression of the same incomprehensible shift in line. No wonder Israel is concerned.

Yes, well, no

Europe is sour because Trump does not do as they want. They want the USA to pay and be the draught animal. When Trump says “no more”, they call him a bad person.

For the USA still pays a little over half of Nato’s costs, something Trump recently described as «ridiculous».

On the European side there is also widespread agreement that Trump’s behaviour has damaged cohesion and not least the credibility of the alliance, which is decisive for Nato’s ability to deter.

Trump is the first president who not only talks, but who lets action follow words. That is not what Europeans are used to. They were spoiled by presidents who always picked up the bill.

War is too serious for that.

Shadow fleet

Ukraine has just attacked nine ships in the Russian shadow fleet right before Trump is to speak to the NATO meeting. This is of course a message to NATO’s leaders: Zelenskyj wants to put NATO in a situation where the table catches. He has now entered into drone cooperation with several countries, including Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands. He wants to prove how much NATO can get out of the cooperation and get into the alliance through the back door.

He has in all seriousness proposed that the Americans should transfer the licensing rights to their Patriot systems to Kyiv.

Badmouthing in the back room

“Officials” in NATO countries badmouth Trump. Think, he wants Europeans to buy American! How cheeky!

Trump has also moved the goalposts. This year he is going to demand that allies use the increased defence investments to buy American weapons. European officials fear that he can put a label on the countries that refuse to buy American, writes Politico.

For Trump this can become a matter of principle, and the fear is that he will throw Nato into new chaos if he does not get what he wants.

– Trump must feel that he is making a good deal, says a diplomatic source to the news site.

The journalists and “officials” do not understand that they are talking themselves down. It may be that Trump responds with a “suit yourself” – “do as you please”, and goes his own way.

Then journalism will have become a self-fulfilling prophecy: Everything they have said about Trump is correct.

That Europe is left as a loser must not help.

For they were right.