US President Donald Trump touched down in Ankara on Tuesday to one of the most elaborate welcomes extended to any leader at this year’s NATO summit, greeted by a turquoise carpet, cannon fire and a full military honour guard as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan personally escorted him through a ceremony that a White House press pool noted had not been offered to other attending heads of state.
Trump’s plane landed at Etimesgut Air Base outside Ankara on Tuesday afternoon local time, where Erdoğan and members of the Turkish military waited on the tarmac.
The two leaders shook hands, and Trump gave Erdoğan’s shoulder a squeeze before they posed for photographs, according to pool reports.
An hour later, the pageantry intensified at the Beştepe Presidential Complex, where soldiers in formal dress lined a blue carpet, ceremonial cannons fired in salute, and four fighter jets streaked overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke in the colours of the American flag.
NATO Ankara Zirvesi vesilesiyle ülkemize resmî bir ziyaret gerçekleştiren ABD Başkanı, değerli dostum Sayın Donald Trump’ı ağırlamaktan memnuniyet duydum.
Gündemimizdeki pek çok meseleyi, inanıyorum ki Sayın Başkan’la dayanışmamız ve güçlü ilişkilerimiz sayesinde hayırlı bir… pic.twitter.com/BbohaBqA7Q
— Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (@RTErdogan) July 7, 2026
A Guiding Hand Through the Ceremony
Footage of the arrival showed Erdoğan repeatedly steering Trump by the arm through the formal proceedings, at one point redirecting him after he appeared to drift from his designated position in front of a line of Turkish troops.
The moment drew wide attention online, circulating in split-screen video that showed Erdoğan clasping Trump’s arm to guide him back into place before the two continued walking the carpet together, inspecting the assembled honour guard.
Trump was heard telling Erdoğan and Turkiye’s first lady about the aircraft now serving as Air Force One, though the two leaders did not take questions from reporters during the arrival ceremony itself. Erdoğan later told journalists that Trump was bringing “might and strength” to this year’s gathering, framing the American president’s presence as central to the summit’s stature.
Trump Credits Erdoğan, Renews NATO Complaints
Speaking at a bilateral meeting ahead of the evening’s dinner, Trump suggested his personal regard for Erdoğan was the deciding factor in his decision to attend the summit at all. “If it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended,” Trump told reporters.
The remark came alongside renewed criticism of the broader alliance, which Trump has needled for months over defence spending and burden-sharing.
“I was very disappointed with NATO,” he said, revisiting frustration that allied members had not joined US and Israeli military operations against Iran earlier this year. “We don’t need anybody’s help. I didn’t even want the help,” Trump added.
Trump separately told reporters the United States intended to lift sanctions on Turkiye that had been imposed after Ankara purchased a Russian air defence system, saying plainly, “we don’t want to sanction friends.” He also indicated he was weighing whether to allow the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkiye, a program from which the country had previously been excluded over the same Russian arms purchase.
A Reception of Its Own, Hosted by Turkiye’s Defence Chief
The red-carpet diplomacy extended beyond the presidential compound. Turkish National Defence Minister Yaşar Güler hosted a separate reception for NATO defence ministers at the Ay Yıldız Joint Headquarters, a facility still under construction, to mark the alliance’s 36th summit of heads of state and government.
Güler greeted arriving officials personally at the entrance of the headquarters’ Yıldız section and delivered brief remarks to the assembled delegation.
Later Tuesday evening, Trump joined the full roster of NATO leaders for a dinner inside the Beştepe compound, arriving after a procession of counterparts that included French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, several of whom have been targets of Trump’s public criticism in recent months.
European Council President Ursula von der Leyen was seated alongside Erdoğan and Trump at the dinner, according to pool reporting, before palace doors closed and NATO ended its live broadcast of the proceedings.
Millî Savunma Bakanı Yaşar Güler, 36’ncı NATO Devlet ve Hükûmet Başkanları Zirvesi dolayısıyla inşası devam eden Ay Yıldız Müşterek Karargâhında NATO Savunma Bakanlarına bir resepsiyon verdi. Ay Yıldız Karargâhının Yıldız bölümünde gerçekleştirilen resepsiyonda Bakan Yaşar Güler… pic.twitter.com/O5kHdbGjS6
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) July 7, 2026
Alliance Tensions Simmer Beneath the Pageantry
The elaborate hospitality unfolded against a backdrop of real strain within the alliance, which NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has worked to manage throughout the two-day gathering. Rutte told the summit’s defence industry forum that member states were making good on a pledge, made under US pressure roughly a year earlier, to raise security-related spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product, and he announced new defence contracts worth billions of dollars.
Diplomats at the summit were said to be leaning on Trump’s evident rapport with Erdoğan, along with Rutte’s own diplomatic efforts, to avoid an open rupture following a string of public clashes between Trump and other allied leaders in recent months.
Whether that goodwill outlasts the ceremonial welcome in Ankara may become clearer as NATO’s formal summit sessions begin Wednesday.
