Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C, bottom) welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump (up) upon his arrival on Air Force One, as he travels to attend the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images

ANKARA, Turkey—U.S. President Donald Trump arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, on July 7 to join the two-day NATO leaders’ summit.

Air Force One landed at Etimesgut Air Base just before 2 p.m. local time.

This is the first visit to Turkey by a sitting U.S. president since President Barack Obama attended the G20 summit in Antalya in 2015.

NATO’s 32 member countries and key partners are meeting on July 7 and 8 to review progress on defense spending commitments made at last year’s summit in The Hague.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hosting the summit at his presidential complex in Ankara.

Trump told reporters in June that he was visiting out of respect for Erdogan.

Upon arrival in Ankara, Erdogan will welcome Trump with a state arrival ceremony and honor guard review at his presidential complex. The leaders will then hold a bilateral meeting before attending the NATO leaders’ social dinner, according to the White House.

During Trump’s first term, his relationship with Erdogan hit a low point after Turkey refused to release Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical pastor, detained on terrorism charges linked to the failed 2016 coup. Trump responded by imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey, which led to a currency crisis in the country. After strong pressure from the United States, Brunson was released in late 2018.A year later, Trump sent Erdogan a public letter warning that he could “destroy” Turkey’s economy if Ankara refused to end its military offensive in northern Syria. Since then, ties between the two leaders have steadily improved.

Following Trump’s return to the presidency, the two leaders quickly rebuilt their personal relationship.

In September 2025, Erdogan visited the White House for the first time in six years.

A key sticking point between the two countries has been Turkey’s 2019 purchase of the Russian S-400 air defense system. This led to U.S. sanctions on the Turkish defense industry under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and its removal from the F-35 program.

Despite this, Trump has defended Erdogan, publicly blaming the Obama administration for failing to sell American Patriot missiles to Turkey.

Trump has recently signaled a desire to roll back sanctions and potentially allow Turkey back into the F-35 program. It is unclear whether he will make a public statement about this during the summit.

Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the United States and Turkey have become more closely aligned on their key objectives in Syria, with U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack serving as a key coordinator.

Turkey hosts “some 3 million Syrians, the largest refugee population in the world and a central actor in the country’s stabilization and reconstruction,” Barrack said in a statement.

On July 8, Trump will meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO Summit.

The U.S. president is also scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before returning to Washington.

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