Speaking to reporters during talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump said Greenland 'should be controlled by the United States, not Denmark' — repeating, before assembled NATO leaders, the annexation talk that triggered Europe's collective backlash in January.

He went further, suggesting the US could pull its troops from all of Europe if allies keep opposing him on Greenland. With Washington having already unveiled troop-reduction plans over the past six months, few dismiss the remark as mere rhetoric.

A summit amid unprecedented division

The transatlantic alliance meets in unprecedented disarray. European leaders emphasized 'mending fences' and solidarity to placate Trump, but burden-sharing, Ukraine aid and Greenland have deepened the crisis of trust.

Britain is set to unveil a heavily funded long-range weapons program to bolster NATO, the Liberty Times and others reported — part of Europe's visible pivot toward self-reliant deterrence as the US umbrella wobbles.

Host Turkey looms larger: Erdogan is casting himself as mediator between America and Europe, seeking greater weight within the alliance.

How China and Russia see it

China's Global Times ran an editorial calling NATO's invocation of Chinese missiles 'naive,' with a commentator branding the summit 'a carefully staged life-support show.' Russia welcomes NATO's discord and watches for a reshaped European security order.

A third perspective

Through Sinophone eyes, cracks in the Atlantic alliance are variables for Asian security. A US that steps back from Europe might concentrate on the Indo-Pacific — or erode allied trust everywhere. That is why Seoul, Tokyo and Taipei watch Ankara with bated breath. Alliances rest on trust, and trust is built by deeds, not words — an old maxim again on trial.