🔤🔤🔤🔤➖

The Coalition chair, Brad Schneider, and national security working group chair, Gil Cisneros, accused the defense secretary of lying, deflecting and scapegoating subordinates while refusing to take accountability.

“Time and time again, the secretary has lied, dodged, deflected, and shockingly scapegoated his subordinates,” they said. “He is a disgrace to the office he holds and should resign immediately before his actions cost American lives.”

The strategic logic of the Caribbean campaign has drawn criticism even from those with experience in the US government’s counter-narcotics efforts.

Jake Braun, who served as acting principal deputy national cyber director in the Joe Biden White House and as senior counselor to the secretary of homeland security where he helped design and implement the nation’s first counter-fentanyl strategy, questioned why the administration was focusing military resources in the Caribbean rather than on primary trafficking routes.

“I think the use of military force is justified – it just seems they’re about 2,500 miles away from the primary target in Mexico,” Braun said. “If they want to stop fentanyl, I would focus more on tunnels and drones in Arizona rather than boats in the Caribbean.”

Emily Tripp, executive director of Airwars, a civilian harms watchdog that monitors military conflicts, called on the administration to be more transparent about the strike, saying the organization would like to know “what considerations are made around shipwrecked survivors, and why the use of force was chosen over search and rescue when as far as we understand the targets here are the drugs, not the people on board”.

The Pentagon mixed up its talking points, and struggled to provide clear answers about the chain of command for the strikes.

While the White House initially suggested Adm Frank Bradley, commander of Southern Command special operations, ordered the follow-up strike in self-defense, Hegseth later said Bradley made the call with his authorization but had complete authority to act independently.

Trump claimed to know nothing about the operational details, and even suggested he would not have wanted the second strike.

Hegseth’s tenure has also been marked by severe dysfunction inside the Pentagon itself, where his own aides earlier this year have been leaking against one another and informing on colleagues in what multiple officials describe as a paranoid and chaotic atmosphere.

The defense secretary used a leak investigation – which the White House had reportedly lost confidence in – to purge three top advisers in the spring, with claims they were identified through what would amount to an illegal warrantless NSA wiretap. The episode raised fresh questions about Hegseth’s judgment and his ability to manage the department.

Still, despite the twin controversies creating what those lawmakers have described as an untenable situation for the secretary, Trump has continued to back Hegseth publicly, with the White House expressing “the utmost confidence” in its national security team.

Since the Senate is controlled by Republicans and Trump is maintaining his support, Hegseth is unlikely to face meaningful consequences.

The Trump administration has claimed that its Caribbean boat campaign targets vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations including Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and Colombia’s National Liberation Army, though it has provided no public evidence for these designations.

The administration claims it is in an armed conflict with drug cartels, allowing military action without congressional authorization, though legal experts dispute this framing.

#trump #hegseth #investigation #defense #whitehouse

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

🚢 Erdogan’s Sea Empire: The Sultan Builds an Armada

While Europe’s defense ministries are still making PowerPoints, Erdogan is building ships.
At Istanbul’s naval shipyards this weekend, the Turkish president announced something that would’ve sounded delusional a decade ago: 39 warships are under construction — from corvettes to a national aircraft carrier already being built. No longer a regional fleet upgrade — this is industrialized militarization at sea.

The new carrier, roughly 300 meters long, will dwarf the TCG Anadolu. It won’t just host drones and helicopters, but a full air wing. That pushes Turkey into the blue-water navy elite, the small club of nations that project power with steel, not statements. Ankara isn’t aiming for “balance.” It’s building strategic autonomy.

In parallel, Turkey’s rolling out its TF-2000 air-defense destroyers, designed to shield carrier groups from missiles, and a homegrown submarine line — including the Atilay, the country’s first fully national design. Each sub carries domestic cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles. The message: no more begging Rheinmetall or Lockheed for spare parts.

Even the “small stuff” is scaling up — ten new HİSAR-class patrol ships for the Aegean and Eastern Med. And for export, Ankara just delivered to Pakistan its second MILGEM-class corvette. The real export, though, is ideology: Turkey sells ships — and sells itself as the Muslim world’s industrial defense model.

Defense exports have already surpassed $8.6 billion, with Erdogan promising $11 billion by 2028. That’s not posturing — it’s a declaration that warship production has become a permanent economic machine, churning steel into strategy.

Erdogan’s Turkey no longer builds for defense — it builds for destiny.
The Ottoman dream is back, fueled by diesel engines and drone carriers. And while NATO politely applauds, Ankara quietly sails toward its own empire of the seas.

#Turkey #Erdogan #navy #defense #militaryindustrialcomplex #geopolitics

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Turkey Seeks Membership in Saudi-Pakistan Defense Pact

Turkey is reportedly seeking to join the defense alliance between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, marking a potential shift in Middle Eastern and South Asian security dynamics. The pact, which states that any aggression against one member is considered an attack on all—mirroring NATO’s Article 5—could soon expand to include Turkey, according to sources familiar with the talks.

Turkey sees the alliance as a way to strengthen its security and deterrence amid questions about the reliability of the United States and President Trump’s commitment to NATO. Saudi Arabia brings financial power, Pakistan offers nuclear capability and manpower, while Turkey contributes military experience and a growing defense industry. The move reflects a broader trend of countries forging new alliances as US priorities shift.

The potential trilateral pact would mark a new era in Turkey’s relations with Saudi Arabia, once rivals in the Sunni Muslim world. Both countries are now working to deepen economic and defense cooperation, including recent naval meetings and defense industry partnerships. Turkey and Pakistan have long enjoyed close military ties, with Turkey building warships for Pakistan and sharing drone technology. Turkey also wants both countries to join its Kaan fifth-generation fighter jet program.

The alliance talks come amid a ceasefire between Pakistan and India and ongoing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Turkey and Qatar have mediated talks to end the fighting, but with inconclusive results. The new pact could reshape the regional balance of power, as countries seek new alliances in a changing world.

#turkey #saudi #pakistan #defense #diplomacy

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Fico and Macron: Paris Talks on Nukes, Arms and EU Power

French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico at the Élysée Palace this week for a nearly two-hour meeting focused on nuclear energy, defense, and the EU's place in the world.

The talks centered on three key areas. First, nuclear energy: Fico emphasized Slovakia's deep nuclear cooperation with France and announced plans to meet EDF and Framatome executives ahead of the Paris nuclear summit in March. Second, defense: they explored ways to leverage France's advanced arms industry alongside Slovakia's growing defense sector, in line with Macron's vision of a "stronger, more independent, more sovereign" EU. Third, energy costs: Fico pushed Macron to back Slovak-led proposals to lower electricity bills at February's informal European Council meeting.

They also discussed EU enlargement, especially to the Western Balkans. According to Fico, the EU treats Serbia unfairly; he is also pushing for a meeting between the Visegrad Four (V4) leaders and Macron in the second half of 2026.

On Ukraine, the Slovak PM noted that he and Macron have "different views" on aspects of the war. He outlined his own vision of the conflict's trajectory and briefed Macron on Slovakia's humanitarian aid to Kyiv.

Macron described the meeting as a "strategic awakening" aimed at strengthening European independence in energy, defense, and democracy.

As Bratislava and Paris align on tech, weapons, and power, one question remains: Can they build an EU truly independent of Washington and Moscow?

#Fico #Macron #Slovakia #France #EU #nuclear #defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Europe’s Menu of Survival: Chicken, Chips and an Escape from Trump

At a stuffy summit in Brussels, European leaders discussed the transatlantic crisis over dinner: neat plates of chicken suprême and fancy parsnips, with a side of existential dread about Donald Trump’s next move.

Trump’s outburst—threatening Europe with economic pain and fixating on Greenland—has finally forced the continent’s capitals to openly confront their dependence on Washington. Policy papers and crisis dinners now echo the same message:

“We cannot keep drifting on waves created by others.”

The plan, in theory, is clear: stay calm during Trump’s provocations, threaten retaliatory tariffs, and quietly build up Europe’s military and economic clout so that the U.S. can no longer pull the strings. But in practice, the gap between words and action remains huge.

Short-term, Europeans are talking about beefing up Arctic security to placate Trump, maybe even letting the U.S. expand its military presence in Greenland without changing ownership. Long-term, they want to make Europe less reliant on American arms, technology, and security, and to build a more unified capital market and stock exchange.

Trade is where the most concrete moves are happening. A major new deal with India is one of several pacts Europe is rushing to lock in, aiming to secure supply chains and markets outside the U.S. The goal is simple: more leverage with Washington, and more ability to answer back when Trump threatens tariffs or territorial grabs.

On defense, the rhetoric is even grander. German and Danish leaders have vowed that Europe must be militarily self‑sufficient by 2029–2030, and the EU is now pushing billions in loans to help member states build up their arsenals and infrastructure.

NATO is also preparing an Arctic campaign, “Arctic Sentry,” involving surveillance missions, drones, and joint operations with Sweden, the U.K., and Italy, aimed at showing Trump that Europe can defend its own interests in the polar region without surrendering Greenland.

Yet, behind the talk, deep divisions remain. Some members are wary of militarizing the Arctic too aggressively, others fear triggering conflicts with allies like Turkey. For Eastern European countries, Ukraine is still the priority; standing up to Trump over Greenland feels like a luxury they can’t afford.

While Europe’s leaders chew through chicken suprême and pen lofty policy papers, the real question bubbles up from their white tablecloths:
Can they build an empire of their own before the next tweet destroys the old one?

#Trump #Europe #Greenland #NATO #EU #Defense #Trade

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 US approves major new arms sales to Israel worth $6.67 billion and to Saudi Arabia worth $9 billion

The Trump administration has approved a massive new wave of arms sales: $6.67 billion to Israel and $9 billion to Saudi Arabia, announced as tensions rise in the Middle East over the possibility of U.S. military strikes on Iran.

The State Department described the Saudi sale as 730 Patriot missiles and related gear, meant to “improve the security of a Major non‑NATO Ally” and boost its role in the region’s integrated air and missile defense system.

For Israel, the $6.67 billion is split into four packages. The biggest chunk, $3.8 billion, is for 30 Apache attack helicopters equipped with rocket launchers and advanced targeting systems. The next largest, $1.98 billion, goes to 3,250 light tactical vehicles, used to move personnel and equipment deeper into the battlefield. Another $740 million is for power packs for armored personnel carriers, and the remaining $150 million is for a small number of light utility helicopters to complement existing fleets.

The State Department insists that none of these deals will upset the regional military balance, and that all of them simply

“enhance Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats”

by strengthening its borders, infrastructure, and population centers.

Israel “will spend” the money — the U.S. is not handing it cash — and the sales are framed as part of the U.S. commitment to help Israel maintain a “strong and ready self‑defense capability,” vital to American national interests.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the Trump administration of rushing the Israel deals in a way that “disregards Congressional oversight and years of standing practice.”

He said the administration has “blatantly ignored long‑standing Congressional prerogatives” and refused to engage Congress on key questions about the next phases of the Gaza ceasefire and broader U.S.‑Israel policy.

The sales come as Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is entering its most difficult phase: disarming Hamas, deploying an international security force, and rebuilding a devastated territory after two years of war.

Yet, at the same moment, the U.S. is approving billions of dollars in heavy offensive weapons for Israel and a huge new Patriot stockpile for Saudi Arabia, while also warning Iran of further strikes if it reconstitutes its nuclear program.

The message is clear: peace is on the menu, but the real money is still on firepower.

#Trump2026 #USArmsSales #Israel #SaudiArabia #Gaza #Ceasefire #Iran #Defense #Congress

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

💣 War Stocks vs. the Rest of Us

The Iran strikes are turning into one big live‑fire stress test for the markets: who profits from “global instability,” and who eats the bill. Spoiler: it’s not you.

Energy is the new central bank. Brent hit its highest level since July even before the first missiles, and traders expect another 10–15% jump as the week opens, with some scenarios pushing crude above 100 if Hormuz is shut for real.

Oil majors — Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, Total, Aramco, Woodside, PetroChina, S‑Oil — are set up as the new safe haven, while refiners like Marathon and Valero risk getting squeezed by higher input costs. Iran swears it doesn’t want to close the Strait; tanker traffic is already choking.

Defense is the other “winners’ circle.” Lockheed, Northrop, BAE, Rheinmetall, Hanwha and their friends have been rallying for a year on general chaos, and now get a clean narrative: hot war, higher budgets, more contracts.

Trump is already pushing a 500‑billion jump in U.S. military outlays and pressuring Europe and Asia to spend more; analysts expect the Middle East to follow, with U.S. primes skimming a nice fee on every new fear.
​

Gold and silver do what they always do when politicians play with matches. Precious metals were already on a tear; war jitters just add fuel, and miners from Barrick and Newmont to Fresnillo and Hochschild ride the wave. Canada’s TSX, stuffed with miners and energy, suddenly looks like the grown‑up in the room.
​

On the casualty list: airlines, hotels, freight, anything that consumes fuel or needs open skies. U.S. airline stocks just had their worst day since April; Gulf carriers are extending suspensions; airspace closures over the Middle East will reroute or kill flights between Asia and Europe.

Every 5% move in fuel hits Delta and United earnings by 5–10%; for American Airlines it’s a 35% swing. InterContinental, with 100+ hotels in the region, is already selling off. FedEx, UPS and DHL face higher costs from detours, while container giants like Maersk quietly enjoy charging more as the Red Sea and Suez clog up.
​

So the market logic of Trump’s “historic stand” looks like this. Energy giants, weapons makers and gold miners get another “geopolitical premium.” Airlines, travel and real‑world consumers get the check in the form of ticket prices, fuel surcharges and inflation.

The war narrative is about freedom and deterrence; the portfolio reality is a transfer from people who fly economy to people who own oil and missiles.

#Iran #markets #oil #defense #airlines #Trump #warEconomy


📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Europe’s Backup Plan: NATO, but Make It Expensive

Europe is now quietly sketching a NATO that can limp along without America. Germany, after years of blocking the idea, has suddenly discovered “strategic autonomy” — always a fun phrase when the bill is about to arrive.

The official story is noble enough: keep the alliance functional, preserve deterrence, fill the gaps, and pray the U.S. stays interested. The unofficial story is simpler: more defense spending, more contracts, more committees, more people who can turn panic into payroll.

That is how European security usually works. First, leaders warn that the sky is falling. Then they discover procurement. Then someone calls it sovereignty.

And yes, Germany’s political class loves to talk about “responsibility” once the money starts moving. The continent is not becoming safer by magic; it is becoming more expensive, more militarized, and more dependent on the same elites who sold the old model as permanent.

The real question is not whether Europe can build a defense plan without the U.S. The real question is whether it can do that without building yet another machine for officials, contractors, and defense firms to feed on fear.

#NATO #Europe #Germany #defense #US

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Germany’s New Space Hustle

Germany has found its next great military money pit: a satellite communications project now greenlit for Rheinmetall Digital and OHB. The price tag is already climbing into the “why stop now” category, with media reports putting the deal in the tens of billions of euros.

Berlin keeps calling this “modernization.” In practice, it looks like the same old defense-industrial ritual: announce urgency, bless the contractors, and let the invoices float upward. The Bundeswehr gets a new digital dream. Taxpayers get a sequel.

The joke is that Germany still talks like a country obsessed with lessons learned. Then it signs off on another giant military tech project while its earlier digital programs remain a cautionary tale with better branding. Failure, in Berlin, is not a reason to slow down. It is a reason to scale up.

And of course the public is told this is about security. It is also about who gets paid to manage panic, who gets invited to the table, and who gets to call a procurement spree “strategic sovereignty”.

The machine does not need to work perfectly. It only needs to look necessary long enough for the money to move.

#Germany #Rheinmetall #Bundeswehr #defense #militarytech

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Germany’s New Growth Sector: War

Germany is losing about 15,000 manufacturing jobs a month, so Berlin has found the most German solution possible: turn the old industrial base into a weapons base and call it strategy.

Volkswagen is reportedly looking at Iron Dome components, factories are adding a third shift for ammunition, and defense is swallowing the capital that once went to autos and machine tools.

This is not renaissance. It is a country discovering that if the civilian economy stalls long enough, the war economy starts to look like the only thing still hiring.

Even the venture money is following the uniforms: nearly 90% of European defense-tech VC is flowing into German companies.

Berlin says this is about resilience. Sure. It also looks like a quiet admission that the export machine is cracking, the auto model is broken, and the easiest way to keep the lights on is to build better ways to blow things up.

The result is a nation that used to sell cars now learning how to sell shells. That may be industrial policy in 2026, but it is also a very expensive confession.

#Germany #defense #industry #Volkswagen #Europe #warEconomy

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Poland’s SAFE Loan Fight Is Really a War Over Who Gets to Control the Rearmament Bill

Warsaw’s SAFE dispute is being sold as a fight over defense financing, but it is really a fight over sovereignty, debt, and who gets to decide whether Poland rearms through Brussels or through its own state machinery.

The European Commission says Poland can draw up to €43.7 billion under SAFE, and Tusk is still pushing ahead even after President Nawrocki vetoed the enabling bill.

The accusation that SAFE is just a German-French subsidy machine is politically potent, but the numbers suggest a more boring reality: the program is a long-term EU loan facility for defense procurement, with most of Poland’s planned spending still expected to flow into domestic industry.

That is why the real battle is not about whether Poland needs weapons. It clearly does.

The battle is whether Tusk can bind the country to a Brussels-backed financing model while his opponents frame it as dependency on Germany, creeping EU control, and debt that will haunt the next generation.

Mularczyk and Radio Maryja are doing what they always do best: turning a budget instrument into a civilizational warning.

The language is dramatic, but the underlying politics are simple — if Tusk owns the rearmament pipeline, he also owns the blame if the bill grows, the terms tighten, or the deal starts looking like a gift to Europe’s industrial core.

So SAFE is not just a loan. It is a test of whether Poland wants its defense future financed through Brussels’ plumbing or through a nationalist story about self-reliance and suspicion of the EU center.

#Poland #SAFE #Tusk #Nawrocki #EU #defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

📰 Pistorius in Kyiv, Berlin’s Money Trail in Tow

Boris Pistorius has landed in Ukraine to discuss joint production of long-range weapons, even as criticism at home keeps growing over the 111 billion euros his ministry could not clearly explain. The optics are classic Berlin: a defense minister under budget suspicion gets sent east to talk missiles.

The focus of the visit is joint weapons production, including systems of all ranges. Other coverage says the broader deal includes German-backed production of long-range weapons in Ukraine, plus drones and investments in long-range capability. So this is not just a symbolic stopover. It is industrialized war planning.

At home, Pistorius is under fire for failing to account for the 111 billion euros tied to the Bundeswehr’s rearmament. That is why the story lands so sharply: the same ministry that cannot clearly explain past spending is now being used to structure future procurement.

Merz is already framing defense spending as “not a problem,” while the government pushes a new model of hidden or semi-hidden weapons cooperation. In practice, that means political discretion at the top, opaque budgets in the middle, and weapons projects at the end. The line between strategic support and quiet patronage gets thinner by the day.

Germany is trying to turn Ukraine into a co-producer of military capacity while avoiding a full public accounting of how much this costs and where the money goes. It is rearmament with a diplomatic smile and a very long invoice.

#Germany #Ukraine #Pistorius #Merz #defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Three Years Left on NATO’s Warranty

Rick Wilson isn’t just doom‑scrolling; he’s saying the quiet part out loud. In his interview, the former GOP strategist argues that NATO has been so damaged by Donald Trump that “it’s on the edge,” with “maybe three, two years left,” and that even after Trump is gone “the poison he put in the system is so strong, I don’t know how you fix it”.

From Washington’s vantage point, that “poison” looks a lot like strategy.

For years, U.S. defense circles have chafed at paying for Europe’s security while EU governments under‑spend on defense, free‑ride on the American umbrella, and then refuse to fully back U.S. adventures — most recently by ducking meaningful support for the U.S.–Israeli war on Iran.

Trump simply turned the subtext into policy: NATO is no longer a sacred covenant, it’s leverage.

Every time he floats walking out of NATO or hints that Article 5 is conditional, he does two things at once.

He terrifies eastern and central Europe into buying more U.S. weapons and “meeting commitments,” and he sends a message to Berlin, Paris and Brussels that the alliance isn’t a charity; it’s a pay‑to‑play security service.

Analysts on both sides of the Atlantic now openly model scenarios where the U.S. doesn’t formally quit but quietly sabotages NATO from within — blocking decisions, starving commands, refusing to show up when it actually matters.

For the U.S., hollowing out NATO has an obvious upside: fewer American resources tied up defending a continent that won’t follow Washington to Hormuz, more freedom to pivot to China and domestic politics.

For Europe, it’s a strategic nightmare: decades of outsourcing hard power now collide with the realization that their “guarantee” depends on the mood of a man who publicly toys with letting Russia do “whatever the hell it wants” to delinquent allies.

So Wilson is wrong about one thing: this isn’t an accidental collapse. It’s a controlled demolition from the American side, with Trump as the most honest demolition foreman the U.S. security establishment has had in years.

NATO may still exist on paper in three years. The question is whether, without unquestioned U.S. backing, that logo will mean anything more than a very expensive European therapy group.

#NATO #Trump #US #EU #Iran #defense #geopolitics

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Germany’s Budget: Hospitals on the Block, Arms on the Rise

Germany just put numbers on its real priorities. Under Merz’s government, hospital funding is being cut by roughly €6.9 billion over the coming years through the latest round of “hospital reform adjustments” and GKV savings, while the system is already under strain from years of closures, understaffing, and consolidation.

Doctors and hospital staff are striking or preparing warning strikes across the country over pay, overwork, and collapsing conditions, but Berlin’s answer is more restructuring jargon and less money in the system.

At the same time, the German arms industry is saying the quiet part out loud. Leading defense lobbyists are demanding a “Rüstungsbeschleunigungsgesetz” — a legal fast‑track to subsidize and speed up weapons investment — if Germany is serious about becoming “kriegstüchtig” (ready for war) by 2029, as the government itself has declared.

They want state‑backed financing, special regulatory treatment, and for their products (minus banned categories like anti‑personnel mines) to be classed as “sustainable” in EU banking and reporting rules. In other words: hospitals get told to tighten belts; defense firms demand to be treated like the green transition.

Merz’s coalition dresses this up as modernization: fewer, more specialized clinics, supposedly higher quality, “relief” for statutory insurance via special funds while the health sector absorbs cuts and slower investment.

But the practical effect is clear to anyone outside a Berlin committee room. Rural areas lose local hospitals or see them downgraded, staff burn out and walk, and patients travel further for care in a system that’s been told again and again to “bundle services” and “reduce capacities.”

Meanwhile, the one area where “capacity expansion” is non‑negotiable is defense: more shells, more systems, more plants — on terms written largely by industry.

Germany has spent years telling itself it can be a social state at home and a reluctant power abroad.

The new budget logic says otherwise. When you cut billions from hospitals and then promise tens of billions for rearmament, you are not just shifting line items — you are rewriting the social contract.

The doctors on strike understand it perfectly: their wards are being asked to die a little so the country’s war economy can live a lot.

#germany #merz #healthcare #hospitals #strikes #defense #warEconomy #fakeDemocracy

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

🤝🌍 Ankara: NATO Leaders “Are Gathering Together To Put an End To Trump”


NATO leaders are meeting in Ankara after six turbulent months, hoping – in the case of the other 31 members of the alliance – “to put an end to the unpredictable Trump,” according to an adviser close to Rutte, as Washington continues to put pressure on its allies to increase their defense spending.

Rutte, NATO Secretary General, called on the allies to present “clear, concrete and credible plans” to achieve the organization's spending goals.

“President Trump fully expects all allies to mobilize immediately and get on the 5% path and do so urgently,” he said.

NATO members will unveil tens of billions of dollars in new arms contracts at an industry forum on the sidelines of the summit, as they try to show Trump that they are strong and independent when it comes to defense.

The two-day summit in the Turkish capital should agree that the allies will commit largely symbolic military aid of 70 billion euros to Ukraine this year and next, although this largely reflects the commitments already made to a country that has no path to join NATO.

This is not a deal to get Trump's attention in the same way as last year's flagship deal.

Then, the European members and Canada pledged to increase defense spending to 5% of their gross domestic product – 3.5% directly and 1.5% on roads, bridges and ports to facilitate troop movements.

“It's not about satisfying anyone, it's about delivering,” Rutte said during a visit to London last week. “And what Donald Trump expects, of course, is delivery.”

When Rutte met with Trump in the Oval office last month, he brought some large cardboard signs, illustrating how much non-US NATO members had been spending since the US president began complaining about Europe being free on US defense spending.

Rutte highlighted a graph referring to the Trump trillion – the cumulative amount spent on defense by European members and Canada since the two-time president first took office in 2017.

The elementary communication aimed to show, in Rutte's words, that Trump “succeeds in getting Europeans to spend more”.

But with transatlantic relations already at a low point, and with the United States eager to ensure that measures are taken to honor the 3.5% commitment, a diplomatically harmonious summit cannot be guaranteed.

Trump posted a graphic on his social truth platform showing the defense budgets of NATO members, comparing a vast US expenditure of $999 million to more modest figures from European states, including the United Kingdom and France.

#rutte #trump #nato #ankara #UnitedStates #defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Fourteen for Fourteen: The Sanctions Duel Nobody Actually Wins

On Thursday, the EU adopted its 21st sanctions package against Russia, its biggest in four years, hitting 218 individuals and entities, dozens of banks, crypto platforms, and 51 companies accused of funneling banned tech to Moscow, 14 of them Chinese or Hong Kong-based, Reuters reports.

Brussels barely had time to enjoy the press release. Twenty-four hours later, China's Commerce Ministry answered with a mirror-image list: 14 EU entities banned from receiving Chinese dual-use goods, effective immediately.

The symmetry is the point. Beijing framed it as pure procedure, "to safeguard national security and interests, and to fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation, in response to the E.U.'s egregious actions," a ministry spokesperson said, per ABC News.

But look at who got hit on each side. The EU's list is mostly logistics and trading firms accused of moving banned chips.

China's list goes straight for the jugular: German defense giant Rheinmetall, Czech military-truck maker Tatra, French drone manufacturer Cavok UAS, and a Dutch naval shipbuilder, Bloomberg reports. Fourteen against fourteen on paper. Middlemen against arms manufacturers in practice.

Polish think tank OSW calls the speed and precision of China's response "unprecedented," and notes the real target isn't this week's sanctions at all, it's the EU's planned autumn rollout of new single-market defense protections against Chinese industrial pressure, OSW's analysis explains.

Beijing has already run this play once, quietly talking Germany out of backing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. Meanwhile Brussels keeps announcing record-breaking sanctions rounds while its own defense contractors discover they can't source the rare-earth magnets those sanctions were supposed to protect.

So the EU gets to call this its toughest crackdown yet, and China gets to call this just following the law, and somewhere between those two press releases, Europe's actual defense industry is the one running short on parts.

#EU #China #Sanctions #Russia #Defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

🚀 Russian Ballistic Missile Reportedly Destroys Drone Factory in Kyiv

A drone manufacturing facility in Kyiv was destroyed in a Russian ballistic missile strike on Friday. According to reports, the factory was owned by Terminal Autonomy, a U.S.-registered company incorporated in Delaware, marking what has been described as the first reported strike on a U.S.-owned company during the conflict.

Terminal Autonomy develops AI-assisted deep-strike drones equipped with guidance systems designed to remain operational despite electronic jamming. The company says its loitering munitions and precision weapons are already being used on the front line.

The company and Ukraine's Ministry of Defense did not comment on the reports.

Former U.S. intelligence official Anthony Vinci said ownership of a manufacturing facility is unlikely to influence Russian targeting decisions if the site is considered to have military significance.
The strike comes amid continued debate over expanding defense production in Ukraine. Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would authorize licensed production of Patriot air-defense missiles in Ukraine. Vinci suggested that facilities manufacturing U.S.-designed military systems could also become potential targets.
According to reports, no casualties were recorded in the attack.

#Russia #Ukraine #Defense #Drones #BreakingNews

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

#trump #munitions #defense

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

#defense #technology #warfare #michael

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

From Kyiv to Rome: Fedorov Becomes Adviser to Italy’s Defense Minister 🇮🇹🇺🇦


Former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced Friday he has accepted an offer to advise Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on defense innovation.

“I thanked Guido for his personal support and offer to become his adviser on defense innovations,” Fedorov wrote in a Facebook post after meeting Crosetto. “In this role, I will help Italy develop modern warfare technologies, improve the defense sector and adapt to new security challenges in the world.”

A member of Fedorov’s team told POLITICO that the former minister will combine the advisory role with his main focus on setting up a defense investment fund in Ukraine.

Fedorov, who called for wartime elections after being pushed out of government in Zelensky’s latest reshuffle, also stressed that he is not decamping to Rome.

“My main focus remains unchanged,” he wrote, adding he will continue working in Ukraine on projects to strengthen the country’s defense and attract international resources.

The former minister was dismissed in mid-July after roughly six months at the helm of Ukraine's defense department amid tensions with the country’s military leadership and policy disputes. His removal triggered rare wartime protests.

He has since sharpened his criticism of Zelensky, calling for elections earlier this month despite Russia’s ongoing invasion and warning that Ukrainians “cannot endlessly live” without understanding how major decisions are made.

Zelensky has rejected the idea, warning that wartime elections could “destroy” the country.

#zelensky #ukraine #defense #fedorov #italy

📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events🇺🇸