Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the biggest issues on NATO’s agenda, China test-firing a ballistic missile, and a funeral procession for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It’s a precarious time for the world’s largest military alliance. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to undermine NATO with threats of withdrawal. Several member states are struggling to meet new defense spending requirements. Russia’s war against Ukraine remains a threat to European security. And differences over how to handle the Iran war risk exacerbating tensions among allies.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at the biggest issues on NATO’s agenda, China test-firing a ballistic missile, and a funeral procession for former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It’s a precarious time for the world’s largest military alliance. U.S. President Donald Trump continues to undermine NATO with threats of withdrawal. Several member states are struggling to meet new defense spending requirements. Russia’s war against Ukraine remains a threat to European security. And differences over how to handle the Iran war risk exacerbating tensions among allies.

Dozens of foreign leaders will convene in Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday for this year’s NATO leaders’ summit. According to NATO chief Mark Rutte, the two-day conference will focus on bolstering Europe’s defense responsibilities in an effort to keep Washington engaged in the alliance. This summit will be the beginning of a trans-Atlantic “defense industrial revolution,” Rutte said at the Atlantic Council last month.

Among European members, opinions of NATO remain high. A Pew Research Center survey released on Monday found that more than 70 percent of people in Poland, Sweden, Germany, and Hungary view the alliance favorably. Yet approval rates in several countries have declined—most notably in France, Italy, and the United States.

The White House, in particular, has grown disillusioned with the bloc, accusing members of placing the onus of their defense on Washington. “The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.

At Trump’s urging, NATO allies agreed last year to increase their respective defense spending to at least 5 percent of GDP by 2035. Several countries appear on track to meet this minimum in time. However, the White House does not appear mollified. During this week’s summit, the United States plans to “take stock of our allies’ expanding NATO’s capabilities in support of the burden-shifting going on here on the European continent,” said Matt Whitaker, the........

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