Trump leaves summit praising NATO
‘unification,’ floats Ukraine-made
Patriots
Kyiv has sought more Patriot interceptors to aid in its defense against Russian missiles and drones.
WASHINGTON — Hours after throwing some stinging jabs towards
NATO members, President Donald Trump ended his trip to Ankara
today with what appeared to be a more upbeat attitude toward the
alliance and toward Ukraine, which he said could soon be allowed
to produce their own Patriot air defense systems.
“I just want to say there was tremendous love in that room,” Trump
told reporters at the NATO Leaders Summit today, also praising the
alliance’s “unification.”
“We kept it short . … It was very smart people, and they have a lot
of good in their heart, not evil, good,” he later added.
Trump’s comments came at the tail end of the highly anticipated
summit focusing on a range of issues, from the ongoing war between
Russia and Ukraine to alliance defense spending levels. Earlier in
the summit, Trump had once again brought up his desire to control
Greenland, pointedly criticized the Spanish government, and
threatened to pull US troops out of Europe.
But by the end he praised NATO members on their work towards reach-
ing the 5 percent GDP on defense and national security investments
by ,2035, while saying those buys should support the US economy if
the weapons producers , can ramp up quick enough.
“They want the American equipment because it works better … and
to that end, I provided other leaders with an update on the steps
we’re taking to rapidly scale up production in the United States,
” Trump told reporters.
“They don’t really want to get it in four years, five years, they want
to get it in like a week,” he later added.
In a similar vein, NATO leaders announced $3 billion in new deals
with US weapons producers, which included UK plans to spend $254
million on Lockheed Martin’s Precision Strike Missile (PrSM)
program, Denmark announcing plans to acquire two Boeing P-8
Poseidon aircraft and NATO allies jointly acquiring up to five
Northrop Grumman-produced MQ-4C Tritons.
In another surprise twist, sitting next to Ukrainian leader Volodymyr
Zelenskyy late today, Trump floated the idea of providing Ukraine
with the “license” to produce the Patriot air defense system. While
he did not disclose what that might include or look like, Kyiv has
been running through its supply of Patriot interceptors and making
public pleas for more.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That’s pretty
cool,” Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky today.
“This way, you can’t complain that we’re not giving ‘em enough,”
he added. “I say, make them yourself. We haven’t informed the
company of that yet, but that’ll work out all right.
Lockheed Martin, which produces PAC-3 interceptors, did not respond
to Breaking Defense’s request about the proposed plan. Raytheon,
which produces the PAC-2 version, declined to comment.
Valerie Insinna contributed to this report.
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