When President Donald Trump took the stage for his NATO press conference, he brought along six emotional support pets. The well-trained group included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker, Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack… and the possibly rabid White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller.
Trump’s unusual choice to bring all the king’s men may have been intended to project strength, but instead projected servility.
Other NATO leaders were able to face the press in Ankara without an entourage. Host and president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 72, closed out the summit with a 50-minute solo performance. Earlier, prime minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez, 54, commanded the stage alone, using his time to downplay Trump’s threats to cut off trade.
Historically, US presidents could stand the heat without so many fans. When President Obama addressed NATO, he did it alone. As did President Joe Biden in July, 2024. To be fair, Biden’s performance was shaky. When asked if he had concerns about Vice President Kamala Harris’s ability to beat Trump, Biden assured the audience that he “wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President” if she weren’t qualified.
That’s as telling a gaffe as Trump gesturing at Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and calling him “President Putin” this week or shouting out the “Islamic Republic of Japan.”
This is not the first time that Trump, 80, brought an entourage to a NATO press conference. Back in August, 2018, he took the stage flanked by then-National Security Adviser John Bolton and then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump actually did turn the podium over to Pompeo at one point to elaborate on an answer about North Korea. But this year, all six men remained stony. What purpose did they serve? Were they makeshift bodyguards? Babysitters? Backup singers?
The best explanation is that they were besties. Trump needs friends, especially at NATO since he’s beefing with one of his most vocal allies. The night before the summit, Trump posted an insulting meme of Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, 49, smiling at Trump with the caption “RESTRAINING ORDER NEEDED.” He’s also been rude to Zelenskyy, Sánchez, and let’s not forget nine years ago when Trump, always the charmer, shoved the Prime Minister of Montenegro out of his way to get in front of the cameras.
Trump does have a friend in Turkey’s Erdoğan, who was on the tarmac to greet Trump’s plane. (Only a really good friend comes to the airport to pick you up.) Erdoğan even held onto Trump’s arm to steady the wobbly president as he walked the pale blue carpet. But with hosting duties, Erdoğan might not have been available as much as Trump needed.
First Lady Melania Trump was also unavailable. Although she has accompanied her husband to NATO conferences in the past, this week she was a no-show, passing on the opportunity to practice some of those five languages that she supposedly speaks.
So it’s understandable if Trump was lonely and wanted his girlies on stage with him. The six toadies likely jumped at the chance to display their loyalty. Still, we’ve learned from past summits that reciprocity is not guaranteed.
Eight years after sharing a NATO stage with Trump, Pompeo and Bolton have been cast out Eden. One of Trump’s first orders of business in 2025 was to strip Pompeo of his State Department security detail while Bolton faces a large fine and possible jail time after pleading guilty to the illegal retention of sensitive security documents. The case was pursued vigorously by Trump’s Department of Justice, who have denied that the charges were triggered by Bolton writing in his memoir that Trump was “unfit” for office.
In the end, one of the Silent Six actually did serve a purpose. After stating that Biden “couldn’t talk, he couldn’t walk,” Trump made his oft-said, rarely-proven comment that the world has “more respect for our country than they ever had before.” He then ambled off with his minions following after him… except for one: Marco.
As the Secretary of State passed the podium, something caught his attention. He noticed Trump had walked off without the diplomatic folder which contained his speech. Rubio fetched the folder then hurried to catch up with his boss, like a dog coming to heel.
