President Donald Trump is right to demand that NATO allies shoulder more of the burden for collective defense. For too long, the United States has underwritten the security of partners who are increasingly selective about when they reciprocate. If Washington is serious about recalibrating this imbalance, it should begin with Turkey.
No NATO ally has benefited more consistently from the alliance than Turkey. Since the early days of the Cold War, the U.S. and its partners have invested heavily in building Turkey’s military capabilities — modernizing its armed forces, integrating it into NATO command structures, and positioning it as a front-line state against Soviet expansionism. That investment continues today. In recent days, U.S.-supplied and NATO-integrated air defense systems intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles targeting Turkish territory. Once again, the alliance came to the capital Ankara’s aid.
