Nato leaders agree not to mention World Cup to Donald Trump to avoid irritating him

As alliance gathers in Ankara, European leaders have an informal strategy to try to keep US president on side Nato leaders have informally agreed not to mention the football World Cup to Donald Trump for fear of irritating the US president at a crucial time for the military alliance. Officials said European leaders had discussed in the sidelines of the summit in Ankara how to keep Trump on side amid concerns he could further destabilise Nato with threats over defence spending. They are already working together to reassure the US president they are pulling their weight financially by building “a stronger and more European Nato” with each member on track to spend 5% of GDP on defence by 2035. In the first open acknowledgment of the strategy, the Belgian prime minister, Bart De Wever, told reporters in Ankara he would not be discussing his country’s 4-1 win over the US earlier this week. The summit follows a row caused by Trump asking the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to review the red card shown to the US striker Folarin Balogun, meaning he could then play in the match against Belgium. Before meeting Trump at the summit, De Wever joked to reporters that the US president “has the