On June 24 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House. According to the Israel Times, during the meeting, Trump stated that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had considered supporting Iran, but he successfully prevented Turkey from joining the war. He added that his attendance at the NATO summit scheduled for next month in Turkey was due to respect for Erdogan.
Trump said, “Erdogan is the top candidate to join the war. He likely sides with Iran because he doesn’t like Israel. I told him not to get involved, and he didn’t. Erdogan is an outstanding leader, a very strong person… He fulfilled all the demands I made of him.”
However, The Israel Times noted that Turkey has shown no signs of participating in the conflict to aid Iran. In March of this year, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced that it had intercepted Iranian missiles entering Turkish airspace, and Iran denied any attacks on Turkey.
Trump stated that he would attend the NATO summit scheduled for July in Turkey as a show of respect for Erdogan. He said, "If it were someone else, I definitely wouldn't go. But Erdogan called me and said, 'The summit is held in Turkey, please make sure to come. The United States must participate.' So, out of respect for him, I decided to attend."
On June 24 local time, U.S. President Trump met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House.
Trump praised Turkey as a “reliable member state” of NATO, noting that Turkey has a large inventory of military equipment and maintains long-term defense relations with the United States. When asked if he would “come to Turkey with a big bag of gifts,” Trump replied, “Yes, I might do something that will make him very happy.”
Turkey has always hoped to obtain American F-35 fighter jets. However, after receiving the first batch of Russian S-400 air defense systems in 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on Turkey's defense industry, causing delays in the cooperation plan for purchasing F-35 jets. Trump refused to specify what additional conditions were required for this deal, instead shifting the responsibility to U.S. Vice President Whitmer.
Wanx said, “To comply with U.S. laws, we must verify certain things. The President has asked us to do this, so that they can obtain the F-35 fighter jets. This is actually a matter at the congressional level.” Trump then interjected, insisting that the related issues would be resolved.
The NATO summit will take place in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, from July 7th to 8th local time. According to the Turkish newspaper Daily Morning Post, this is the second time Turkey has hosted a NATO summit, and it is also Trump's first visit to the country after he begins his second term in office.
Trump has repeatedly asked other NATO members to increase their defense spending and called for European countries to take a leading role in European defense. It is expected that these topics will be the focus of this NATO summit.
Turkey's Presidential Press Secretary Bulhandin Duran said that sharing the burden of defense is one of the key topics of the Ankara summit. The constantly changing security landscape is prompting NATO member countries to re-evaluate their respective levels of defense spending. He revealed that Turkey's goal is to achieve a defense spending that constitutes "3.5% + 1.5%" of its gross domestic product by 2030.
Last year, leaders of NATO member states reached an agreement on defense spending targets, deciding to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP. Of this amount, 3.5% will be used for core military expenditures, and 1.5% will be allocated for protection of key infrastructure and cybersecurity.
Erdogan previously emphasized that Trump's attendance at the NATO summit is crucial for demonstrating NATO's "unity". On the 24th, Erdogan also said that he and Trump "very likely" will have a bilateral meeting during the summit, but did not provide further details.
