NATO Summit: Trump leaves summit with 'a little bit different' view | KEY HIGHLIGHTS

US President Trump said that he will be talking to Iran “next week”, adding that they “might sign an agreement.”

“We’re going to talk to them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don’t know. To me, I don’t think it’s that necessary. I mean, they had a war, they fought, now they’re going back to their world. I don’t care if I have an agreement or not,” he said. 

Trump said that the meeting with Zelensky was “very nice” even though they “had little rough times” in the past. While talking about the war with Russia, he said, “I think he’d like to see an end to this. I do. I think what I took from the meeting couldn’t have been nicer, actually, but I took from the meeting that he’d like to see it end. I think it’s a great time to end it." 

"I’m going to speak to Vladimir Putin see if we can get it ended," he added.

Trump said he is leaving summit with 'a little bit different' view of Nato after 'moving' scenes with leaders. “I watched the heads of these countries get up, the love and the passion that they showed for their countries was unbelievable. I’ve never seen quite anything like it," he said. 

Trump continued, "They want to protect their country. They need the United States, and without the United States, it’s not going to be the same. And you can ask Mark, or you can ask any of the people that were there. It was really moving to see it.”

Trump said his original promise to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “sarcastic,” and concedes “it’s more difficult than people would have any idea.”
Trump promised the US will see if it can make more anti-missile “Patriot” missiles available for Ukraine, stressing “they are very effective, 100% effective.”

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States would hold talks with Iran next week, with a possible agreement on the table about Tehran's nuclear programme.

"We're going to talk to them next week with Iran, we may sign an agreement, I don't know," said Trump.

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he believed the war between Iran and Israel was finished, as both sides were keen to end the fight.

Asked why he was confident the conflict was over, Trump told reporters: "I dealt with both and they're both tired, exhausted."

"They fought very, very hard and very viciously, very violently, and they were both satisfied to go home and get out," said Trump.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a NATO pledge to boost defence spending to five percent of gross domestic product annually as a "monumental" win for his country.

"It's a monumental win for the United States, because we were carrying much more than our fair share," Trump told reporters after the summit of the 32 NATO countries.

Trump praised the 5% defence spending target, saying, "“Major focus of our conversations at the summit was need for other Nato members to take up the burden of the defence of Europe, that included the financial burden as you know, it was 2%, [and] we got it up to 5%. And they said, a couple of them came up to me, one in particular, said, ‘Sir, we’ve been trying to get it up to 3% for 20 years, and we haven’t been able and you got it up to 5%’, so they’re going to be … most of them. I guess almost all of them are going to be contributing now."

Hailing the NATO summit in the Netherlands, Trump said it was “a fairly long trip, but worth it.” He added, “Tremendous things have been accomplished.” He further praised the hosts, the Netherlands, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte.

Trump also hailed the recent “massive” strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. “This incredible exercise of American strength has paved the way for peace, historic cease fire agreement Monday. We call it the 12 day war. I spoke to a few people, I guess that just sounded like the right, right name, a 12 day war,” he said.

Following the meeting with Trump, Zelensky told reporters, “We covered all the truly important issues. I thank Mr. President, I thank the United States. We discussed how to achieve a ceasefire and a real peace. We spoke about how to protect our people. We appreciate the attention and the readiness to help bring peace closer. Details will follow.”

A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US leader Donald Trump on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday has ended after 50 minutes.

UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, insisted at his press conference that he believed Trump was a reliable partner that could we trusted.

“We work very closely with the United States, we have done for many years. Our teams are constantly talking to each other as they were throughout last week,” he said

A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US leader Donald Trump has begun on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday, the Ukrainian presidency said.

The two leaders were set to discuss additional sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and arms procurement for Kyiv, a source had earlier told AFP.

Rutte said, Trump deserves “some praise” for making Nato allies commit to ramp up their spending more urgently, and same for his actions in Iran.

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the agreed targets show that “the allies recognise the severity of the threats we face and, in response, they have come together to agree an ambitious but essential new defence spending commitment.”

“President Trump has been clear America is committed to Nato. He affirmed it again today in no uncertain terms.

At the same time, he made clear that America expects European allies and Canada to contribute more, and that is exactly what we see them doing.”

Nato leaders have committed to invest 5% of GDP annually on defence and security-related spending by 2035 “to ensure our individual and collective obligations” are met, according to the final text of the Hague summit declaration adopted just now.

• US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte held a news conference before the NATO Summit. The two addressed several issues, including the recent Israel-Iran ceasefire, Russia-Ukraine war and NATO's defence spending target.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed confidence that NATO members will agree "in great harmony" to raise the alliance's defence spending target. However, some of the countries said they wont meet this target.
• On Gaza issue, Trump said that he believes "great progress" is being made towards Israel's war in Gaza. He added that US envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff informed him a ceasefire deal is "near".
• On Russia-Ukraine war, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said that he does not believe that Russia could launch an attack on NATO territory by the end of the decade.
• Trump to meet Zelensky on second day of Summit in The Hague. When asked about meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said that he will be discussing the obvious with him. "We’ll discuss his difficulties. He’s got a little difficulty. Zelenskyy, he’s a nice guy. I mean, I’m going to meet him today." 

Iran has “less capacity” to rapidly produce a nuclear weapon and is “much further away” from one today due to US strikes on three of the country’s nuclear facilities, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with Politico, in The Hague. 

“(Iran’s nuclear) program today has been set behind significantly from where it was a week ago. It is in far worse shape today than it was a week ago because of US actions and because some of the actions Israelis took,” Rubio told Politico.

As NATO is planning to push for a defence spending of 5 per cent by the end of 2035, nine nations are already falling behind the current target of 2 per cent. 

Read the full story HERE.

US President Donald Trump, during a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO Summit in The Hague on Wednesday (Jun 25), hailed the ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war as a "tremendous victory for everyone, including Iran".
 

Read the full story HERE.

Britain’s King Charles has invited US president Donald Trump for a state visit later this year, as confirmed by Buckingham Palace. Trump accepted an invitation from Charles for a second state visit in February

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban does not believe, as other European countries do, that Russia could carry out an attack on NATO territory by the end of the decade.

“I think Russia is not strong enough to represent a real threat to us. We are far stronger,” Orban told reporters at the summit.

NATO Chief Mark Rutte said that that “we are meeting at a dangerous moment as Russia's war against Ukraine rages on”. 

“We meet at a dangerous moment for our one billion citizens. Russia’s war against Ukraine rages on. An assertive grouping of adversaries seeks to divide and challenge us. There’s war in the Middle East. Terrorism poses a persistent threat, and new technologies bring opportunities, but also many serious security challenges,” he said. 

“In the face of this, we stand together, united in Nato, the most powerful defensive alliance in world history,” Rutte added. 

US President Donald Trump confirmed his commitment to Article 5. Asked about his commitment to Nato’s Article 5, Trump said, “We are with them all the way.”

Trump on Wednesday made a comparison between US strikes on Iran and the US use of nuclear bombs in Japan, stressing that both attacks were done to successfully end wars.

"I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima. I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing that ended that war,” Trump said at a NATO summit.

"I don’t think they’ll ever do it again,” Trump said of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “They just went through hell. I think they’ve had it. The last thing they want to do is enrich.”

US President Donald Trump said “great progress” being made, referring to a possible deal to end the conflict.

“I think we’re going to have some very good news,” he said in the Netherlands. “I was talking to Steve Witkoff, who, by the way, is terrific, and who knows more about this subject than anybody … He just explains it so easily. He’s really very knowledgeable. But he did tell me that [a ceasefire deal in] Gaza is very close,” he said, referring to the United States Special Envoy to the Middle East.

Chief Mark Rutte said that NATO will decide unanimously for countries to raise defence spending to 5 percent of GDP. He said that Europeans and Canadians would need to pay more for defence, not US taxpayers. 

When asked about meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said that he will be discussing the obvious with him.

"We’ll discuss the obvious. We’ll discuss his difficulties. He’s got a little difficulty. Zelenskyy, he’s a nice guy. I mean, I’m going to meet him today. I don’t know. I assume we’re going to be discussing Ukraine," Trump said.