U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday to attend the NATO leaders' summit, joining heads of state and government from across the alliance for talks expected to focus on collective defense, regional security and burden sharing.
Trump's aircraft landed at Ankara Airport, where he was welcomed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan before departing for the Presidential Complex where he was expected to hold talks with the president. On Air Force One, Trump was accompanied by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. This was also the inaugural flight abroad for new presidential plane gifted by Qatar with Trump aboard. Ankara Airport, originally Etimesgut Airport, was heavily modified and had its runways expanded specifically for leaders and delegations arriving for the NATO summit.
The two-day gathering is expected to bring together leaders from NATO's 32 member states, with discussions set to cover defense spending, Russia's war in Ukraine, the alliance's deterrence posture and broader security challenges.
The U.S. president will hold one-on-one talks with Erdoğan at the presidential complex in the capital and U.S.-Turkish delegations will hold talks separately on the margins of the summit.
It was also reported that the agenda in the Erdoğan-Trump meeting will be diverse, but four topics will be the main items in discussions. These include lifting of CAATSA sanctions, Türkiye’s readmission to the F-35 program, U.S. sale of engines for Türkiye’s locally-made fighter jet KAAN and new defense projects.
Additionally, Trump and Erdoğan are expected to discuss boosting bilateral trade volume and possible collaboration on energy.
