At the NATO Summit, Trump declares Iran ceasefire is ‘over’

0:00It's Consider This, where every day we go deep on one big news story. Today, how the Iran conflict overshadowed the NATO summit. This week, all eyes were on Ankara, Turkey, as the NATO summit got underway. Heading into the meeting, the big agenda item was the future of the defense alliance and how President Trump would engage with it. But then on Tuesday night, a few weeks after celebrating a deal to help end the war, Trump ordered dozens of strikes on Iran. To me, I think it's over. It being the fragile ceasefire between the two countries. Consider this, at a meeting that was supposed to be about the unity of the transatlantic alliance, a conflict that has further strained U.S.-European relations, has flared up again.

0:43So how did we get here?

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1:50It's Consider This from NPR. At a NATO summit in Turkey Wednesday, President Trump threatened more strikes on Iran and warned that the ceasefire was over. That came after CENTCOM said they hit 80 targets in Iran on Tuesday. Iran struck a defiant note calling Trump a, quote, criminal and warning it could close the Strait of Hormuz. As oil prices spiked again, Trump did not say that talks to end the war were actually over. To explain how the two countries returned to open hostilities, I am joined by NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez and NPR international correspondent Hadil al-Shalji in Ankara.

2:28Hey to both of you. Hey, Scott. Hello. Franco, I'm going to start with you. Pretty stunning turnaround, considering that Trump, for a while, you know, only three weeks ago, was celebrating the signing of a memorandum of understanding to help end the war, repeatedly talking about this is over, it's in the past. So what more did Trump have to say at the summit? Yeah, Scott, Trump not only warned that the U.S. would likely hit Iran again, but he also threatened to bring back a naval blockade. I mean, he is clearly frustrated after last night's series of strikes. And he really went off on Iranian leaders, calling them cuckoo and a bunch of liars.

3:04I don't want to deal with them anymore. They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people. Now, the big question is whether calling off the ceasefire is actually a change in policy or simply a negotiating tactic. But Trump did say during the press conference that this would not lead to full-scale fighting again, and that anything that happened would be over quickly. I mean, to me, the whole press conference was kind of this swing through so many issues from Iran to the relationship with NATO, artificial intelligence, oil markets, and even some domestic politics.

3:41I mean, he railed, for example, about the number of democratic socialists running for office who he described as communists. Adil, at least as far as Iran is concerned, how did we get to this point? Well, there's been a ceasefire for the past few months, but there's also been flare-ups. This time, the stakes were a little higher because the two sides had come to a memorandum of understanding, which actually appeared to provide a framework for ending the war. Iran's been hitting tankers using the Strait of Hormuz from the Omani control channel. Oman is right across the strait from Iran. And this was seen by Iran as an attempt to get around their control of the strait, and they saw it as a weakening of their leverage in the talks.

4:19So they appear to be sending a message to the U.S. Stop using the Omani route, and the U.S. attacked back. CENTCOM said they hit radars, a naval installation, some small boats. And the U.S. also revoked the oil licenses that would have allowed Iran to sell oil on the international market. Trump was asked at that press conference today, is this the start of the war? And he quickly said, no, this is a flare-up, and we met force with force. And the Memorandum of Understanding was considered a favorable deal for Iran. And in fact, Trump got a lot of criticism over it from Hawks, especially because it included the unfreezing of assets that would have given Iran billions of dollars.

4:56Yeah. Hadil, sticking with you, oil prices, as we mentioned, rose sharply after Trump said that he didn't want to talk to the Iranians anymore. Is there any incentive for the two sides to figure out some sort of way out of this dramatic escalation? I mean, Trump has been getting a lot of pressure from the West and NATO to get this straight open. And the memorandum of understanding was favorable to Iran. They saw it as a benefit. And so Iran sees a benefit in de-escalation. We've actually seen a muted Iranian response after these strikes. And the revocation of the licenses deprives Iran of tens of billions of dollars in potential oil revenue and unfrozen assets they would lose.

5:37And they would also lose a$300 billion investment fund to build. Frank, I want to ask you about NATO. President Trump went into the summit and during the first few days of meetings and public events, he had a lot of criticisms, a lot of complaints about NATO, hostile at times. And then he comes to give us press conferences and his comments were, I mean, like warm, I think is the best way to describe them. What do you make of that change in tone? Yeah, I mean, I'd agree. And it was really quite a shift considering, you know, all that criticism about the alliance. I mean, as we know, Trump's long been frustrated with NATO leaders over their lack of support for the U.S.-led war against Iran.

6:15But he also made several complaints about them, about defense spending. Trump even stoked those tensions in the beginning when he insisted early that the U.S. should again have control of Greenland instead of Denmark, a comment that he knows and even admitted kind of that hurts his relationship with Europe. But at the press conference, Trump really flipped the script and showered NATO leaders with praise. Just again, if you could have seen the respect and the love in the room, and it's love really for the country, for our country. I don't want to say me because you'll say, oh, he's so conceited.

6:47He's such a conceited person. But they do. Now, interesting, Scott, Trump even seemed to back off comments that he made earlier in the day about Spain, who he called a wasted cause and threatened to cut off all trade. He again backed off a bit during the press conference, though, after signaling that Spain would increase its defense spending. Hadil, you did a lot of reporting in the run up to the summit about concerns from other NATO allies. How did they feel that this summit went? Well, really, allies came into the summit with a main goal. Keep President Trump engaged and happy and show him that Europe is really stepping up.

7:24Turkish President Erdogan pulled out all the stops for Trump when he arrived, a military band flyover, a personal greeting at the airport. And then NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte really gave it his all. He announced billions in new military contracts, made remarks about unity, and even called the Iranian strikes necessary to show solidarity with Trump. And all of this may have contributed to Trump's more warmer departure. And Franco, one other geopolitical issue to get to real quick. Ukraine, of course, the ongoing war with Ukraine and Russia. Fair to say Trump and NATO members are actually on the same page here?

7:58Yeah, Trump actually said that the U.S. would be granting Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense missiles, something Kiev was long wanted. It's a really move that could have a big impact on, you know, Trump's, pardon me, Ukraine's ability to defend itself. It really almost appears that Trump's newfound support has kind of fostered a new sense of camaraderie with NATO leaders. That is NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez and NPR international correspondent Hadeel Alshalchi in Ankara. Thanks so much to both of you. Thank you. You're welcome. This episode was produced by Jason Fuller, Zephyr Weinreich and Karen Zamora with audio engineering by Ted Meebane and Hannah Glovna.

8:35Our director is Jonas Adams. It was edited by Christopher Intagliata and Timbeet Ermias. Our interim executive producer is Courtney Dornig.

8:47It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Scott Detrow. Of all the protests in the summer of 2020, for a moment there, it was utopia, one took a unique turn. Somebody over there, he's 18-0 to use a gun? This is the story of how violence came to occupy an anti-violence occupation in Seattle. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series on the Embedded Podcast from NPR.

9:37Thank you.