Trump Departs for NATO Summit in Ankara, Defence Spending Tops Agenda

July 7, 2026

Washington: US President Donald Trump departed the White House on Monday evening (US time) for Ankara, where he is set to attend this week’s NATO summit focused on increasing defence spending, strengthening burden sharing among allies, and expanding defence industrial cooperation.

The summit is expected to assess NATO members’ progress on defence commitments made during last year’s Hague summit and address evolving global security challenges.

Trump to Meet Erdogan in Ankara

Trump is scheduled to arrive in the Turkish capital on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with a State Arrival Ceremony and Honour Guard review.

The two leaders will hold bilateral talks before Trump attends the NATO Leaders’ Social Dinner later in the evening.

Meetings with Zelensky, Syrian President Planned

On Wednesday, Trump will participate in the official NATO welcome ceremony, family photo, and the alliance’s leaders’ working session.

He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa before addressing a press conference and returning to the White House later that day.

US Pushes NATO Allies to Increase Defence Spending

Ahead of the summit, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew G. Whitaker said the meeting would evaluate allies’ progress toward the defence spending target agreed at last year’s Hague summit, where member nations adopted a benchmark of spending 5 per cent of GDP on defence.

“President Trump expects all allies to step up immediately, and not only get on a sustainable path to the 5% but get to 5% as soon as possible in a very dangerous world that needs capable allies,” Whitaker said.

He noted that NATO members have committed nearly $139 billion in additional defence spending since the Hague summit, with almost half of that investment going toward American-made defence equipment, weapons and munitions.

Whitaker praised countries such as Poland, the Nordic nations and the Baltic states for leading defence spending efforts, while noting that Germany is expected to reach the target by 2029.

Focus on Defence Production and Burden Sharing

The summit will also review efforts to strengthen NATO’s military capabilities and defence production across both sides of the Atlantic.

Whitaker stressed that allies must demonstrate meaningful increases in defence spending and invest in both conventional military systems and emerging technologies to meet future security challenges.

He added that Washington’s long-term goal is for European allies and Canada to take greater responsibility for Europe’s conventional defence while maintaining strong cooperation within the alliance.

High-Level US Delegation Accompanies Trump

Joining President Trump on the visit are Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, Communications Director Steven Cheung, Counsellor Mike Needham and White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf.

White House Highlights NATO’s Transformation

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly said the administration views the Ankara summit as another step toward reshaping NATO into an alliance based on greater burden sharing and self-reliance.

She added that member nations will also discuss procurement frameworks aimed at expanding defence capabilities and creating more opportunities for American defence companies across the alliance.