NATO’s Core Purpose, U.S. Forces in Poland, and Turkiye Back in the F-35 Program? (From FOX News)

As the stairs were put in place for President Donald J. Trump’s arrival in Ankara, Turkiye, Fox & Friends anchors Brian Kilmeade, Kayleigh McEnany, and Lawrence Jones discussed the friction between Trump and NATO.  Highlights from the live coverage discussion below and the full clip here.

Brian Kilmeade: Dr. Rebecca Grant, what do you think’s going to happen?  We’ve seen some fiery exchanges at NATO.  Your thoughts on what this conference will most likely be like, and what it might yield?

Rebecca Grant:  Oh, I expect a little bit of a fire and brimstone from President Trump, for all the reasons you’ve been talking about.  That said, a couple of the key allies are ready with some big moves.  I’m talking, first of all, Poland, who already spends 5% and their president Nawrocki has asked for a permanent U.S. armored brigade stationed in Poland.  We have rotational troops there now, but a permanent brigade would include U.S. Abrams tanks, alongside Poland, right where they need to be on the eastern front.  Then you add up Britain’s got a defense plan they’ve laid it out, they’re getting in line.  Germany says they’ve got to make up for three decades of not spending enough and they’ve got to do it all in the next couple of years.  So, I think at least some of these NATO allies are ready with a good answer for President Trump today.

Lawrence Jones: How much does the domestic politics of these countries calculate in their response to the President during these meetings?  Because you got several of these countries where the President is not popular, and they also have a population that is growing, that is quite radical.  They seem to be appeasing those crowds.

Rebecca Grant: Yes, and I think that’s why so many good NATO allies just blew it when it came to Iran. There’s been a lot of political theater here.  But in Ankara, they have got to stop and they’ve got to get in line.  The main reason is for the alliance, but also to deter Putin.  These European nations have experienced Russian drone incursions, cyber-attacks and they are scared to death of a resurgent Russia.  This is NATO’s core purpose, and that’s what’s got to be front and center today.

Kayleigh McEnany: One of the players who is not here, but will undoubtedly be weighing on this gathering, is Benjamin Netanyahu.  Netanyahu has spoken out against the F-35 program being given back to Turkiye; he said that Turkiye had once talked about conquering Jerusalem; he’s been very vocal. So how will Netanyahu, and those remarks, those thoughts, weigh on this NATO gathering?

Rebecca Grant: Well, a lot of the NATO leaders aren’t really any too fond of him.  I think some were a little anti-Israeli.  President Trump and the U.S. of course, strong allies, obviously, an ironclad relationship with Israel.  On the F-35, I think it’s time to let Turkey back in.  They were one of the original international partners in the program.  At one point, there was going to be F-35 production in Turkiye.  Most of our NATO allies, you know, from Finland and Poland on down, have or are getting this jet.  It will be a while.  There’s a long line at the factory. It’s a very popular aircraft, but that aircraft, you know, no two F-35s are the same.  It can be modified with software, so that allies have certain capabilities, the U.S. has other capabilities.  Turkiye has our F-16s, they got those early, and they got more when they agreed to let Sweden and Finland into the alliance.  I wouldn’t mind seeing Turkiye back in the F-35 program, but I want them to give up that Russian air defense system they bought.

Brian Kilmeade:  Yeah, some say that Russian defense system is still in boxes, and that Obama was slow in giving them what they wanted, that’s why they went with the Russians.