Top Dem admits Trump ‘wisely’ made critical demand to NATO allies: ‘Love and hate relationship’
2026-07-08 11:43:31 EDT / Fox News
‘That’s not an unreasonable ask,’ Sen. Dick Durbin said of President Donald Trump’s demand to NATO to spend more on defense
By Peter Pinedo, Fox News
Published July 8, 2026 11:43am EDT
Trump arrives in Turkey for high-stakes NATO summit
President Donald Trump arrives in Ankara, Turkey, for a high-stakes NATO Summit. Key discussions involve the F-35 fighter jet program, Turkey’s S-400 Russian defense system acquisition and increased defense spending from NATO allies. Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson reports the latest and Dr. Rebecca Grant weighs in.
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A top Democratic senator admitted on CBS News that he believes President Donald Trump “wisely” made the critical demand to NATO allies to spend more on defense.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who is in Turkey this week as part of a bipartisan congressional delegation to NATO, spoke with CBS News when an anchor laughingly asked him about Trump’s “strange relationship with NATO over his push for them to spend more on security.” The anchor asked Durbin, “Where does this relationship go from here?”
In response, Durbin described Trump’s relationship with NATO as a “back-and-forth, love-and-hate relationship.” He went on to say that “the president has, I think, wisely asked for our NATO allies, there are 32 members of NATO, to spend more of their own money to protect themselves.”
“That’s not an unreasonable ask,” he added.
TRUMP ENTERS FINAL NATO SUMMIT DAY AS UKRAINE, DEFENSE SPENDING TAKE CENTER STAGE
Sen. Dick Durbin (right), D-Ill., said that President Donald Trump (left) “wisely” asked NATO allies to increase their defense spending.(SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images; Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Durbin, who has served in the Senate for nearly 30 years, is the minority whip and ranking member of the influential Judiciary Committee. He is in Ankara, Turkey’s capital, as part of a congressional delegation led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., to the 2026 NATO Summit. Trump is also attending the summit, accompanied by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.
Durbin did not spend all his time praising the president. Speaking from Ankara, he went on to say that “there have been things that happened during his second presidency which raised the question of our commitment to the future of NATO.”
“I believe in it; that’s why I’m here. And I’ve found that of the delegates that are here from all over the region, part of NATO, that they believe, as I do, that we’re a safer world with the NATO alliance. We have been since 1945.”
TRUMP BETS ON FORMER NATO TROUBLEMAKER AS TURKEY’S STRATEGIC VALUE SURGES
President Donald Trump stands next to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as NATO leaders gather for a family photo at a NATO leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026.(Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)
He added that the summit “will be an opportunity for us to convince the president, if we have to, to move forward with this relationship.”
Before traveling to Turkey for the summit, Trump vented his frustration about NATO, writing in a social media post that “the United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing: U.S. 999 Billion Dollars, United Kingdom, 90.5 Billion Dollars, France, 66.5 Billion Dollars, Italy, 48.8 Billion Dollars, Poland, 44.3 Billion Dollars. Others, including Germany, are MUCH LOWER. (2014-2025) Ridiculous!”
A NATO release stated that the “cut-off date for information used in this report was 3 June 2025” and that “figures for 2024 and 2025 are estimates.” It listed estimated 2025 U.S. defense spending at $980 billion, the United Kingdom’s at $90.508 billion, France’s at $66.531 billion, Italy’s at $48.8 billion and Poland’s at $44.314 billion.
TRUMP CALLS OUT NATO AHEAD OF SUMMIT, CALLING IT ‘RIDICULOUS’ FOR US TO PERSIST ON ‘ONE SIDED PATH’
NATO emblem is seen, while the NATO Summit is held in the city, in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 12, 2023(Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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In another post, Trump said it is “ridiculous for the U.S.A. to continue along this one sided path when the relationship is not reciprocal. They were not there for us!!!”
The president’s comments came after NATO leaders backed a new defense spending benchmark calling on allies to invest 5% of gross domestic product in defense and defense-related expenditures.
Fox News Digital’s Alex Nitzberg and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
Trump says US will let Ukraine make Patriot missiles in major policy shift
July 8, 2026 11:07am EDT / Fox News
‘This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I’d say make them yourself,’ Trump told Zelenskyy
By Morgan Phillips Fox News
Retired general addresses concerns over Pentagon request for more missile funding
Martha MacCallum leads a discussion with Retired General Charles Wald regarding the United States’ missile supply. He explains the impact of supporting Ukraine on current inventories and stresses the need for increased funding and production. Wald underscores the importance of a robust defense industrial base to deter adversaries like Iran and protect allies in the Middle East and Asia.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. will give Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense systems, a move that could mark a significant shift from supplying Kyiv with American-made weapons to helping Ukraine produce them itself.
Trump made the comments while meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as Kyiv continues to press Western allies for additional air defense capabilities to counter Russian missile and drone attacks.
Trump’s announcement comes as Patriot interceptors have become one of Ukraine’s most urgent military needs. The U.S.-made Patriot system is widely regarded as Ukraine’s most capable defense against Russian ballistic missile attacks and has played a central role in protecting Kyiv and other critical infrastructure.
Image depicts Ukraine strikes and a Patriot interceptor system.(Valentyn Ogirenko / Franck Robichon via pool / Reuters)
TRUMP ENTERS FINAL NATO SUMMIT DAY AS UKRAINE, DEFENSE SPENDING TAKE CENTER STAGE
Asked whether he would allow Patriot interceptors to be made in Europe and whether he was comfortable licensing the technology, Trump said the two leaders would discuss it.
“We’re going to talk about that,” Trump said. “Look, it’s a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon. It’s the best.”
Minutes later, Trump went further, saying the U.S. would give Ukraine a license to make Patriots.
“We’re going to give a license to you to make patriots,” Trump said. “That’s pretty cool. Right? This way you can’t complain that we’re not giving them enough. I’d say make them yourself.”
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy alongside the NATO leaders summit at the Bestepe Presidential Compound, in Ankara, Turkey, July 8, 2026(Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
TRUMP COULD HAND PRIZED STEALTH JETS TO NATO ALLY ONCE SEEN AS ALLIANCE HEADACHE
“We haven’t informed the company of that yet, but that’ll that’ll work out all right,” he added. “You know, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled, but, you know, they’ll be able to do it. You’ll be able to figure that out.”
Ukrainian officials have warned that supplies of Patriot interceptors have fallen to dangerously low levels, leaving the country increasingly vulnerable as Russia intensifies missile strikes. Zelenskyy arrived at the NATO summit seeking additional Patriot interceptors from allies while also pressing for longer-term solutions to expand production, arguing that current manufacturing cannot keep pace with Russia’s growing missile campaign.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to Patriot interceptor missiles, the broader Patriot air defense system, or production in Ukraine, Europe or both.
Trump’s comment that the administration had not yet informed the company also raised questions about how far along the licensing plan is and what role RTX, the defense contractor that manufactures Patriot systems, would play in any future arrangement.
The Patriot system has been one of Ukraine’s most sought-after air defense platforms as Russia continues launching missile and drone barrages against Ukrainian cities, energy infrastructure and military targets.
Any effort to expand Patriot production would face significant industrial hurdles.
A member of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force stands guard next to a surface-to-air Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptor launcher vehicle in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on Jan. 18, 2018.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)
RTX serves as the prime contractor for the Patriot air defense system, manufacturing its radars, launchers and the PAC-2 GEM-T interceptor, while Lockheed Martin builds the newer PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptor, which is designed to defeat ballistic missiles. The interceptors are among the world’s most sophisticated air defense weapons, relying on hundreds of specialized suppliers and complex manufacturing processes.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to RTX and Lockheed Martin for comment.
Defense officials and industry executives have said it can take more than two years to produce a Patriot interceptor, underscoring why the U.S. and its allies have struggled to replenish stockpiles as demand has surged amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.