Trump says Erdoğan is the reason he is attending NATO summit in Ankara

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President Donald Trump says he is attending the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, for one reason: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“I’m leaving because of Erdoğan,” Trump told reporters on June 24, calling the Turkish leader a “friend” and a “respected leader” while signaling that closer defense cooperation between Washington and Ankara could be on the horizon.

The summit will begin on Tuesday in Ankara, Türkiye.

The remarks underscore a striking change in relations between Washington and Turkey. Just a few years ago, after Turkey took delivery of the Russian S-400 air defense system in 2019, Washington excluded it from the multinational F-35 fighter program and, the following year, imposed sanctions on Turkey’s defense procurement agency, cementing its reputation as NATO’s toughest ally.

President Donald Trump greets Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit in support of ending the war in Gaza, October 13, 2025, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (Evan Vucci AP Photo/Pool)

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Today, although many of those disputes remain unresolved, it is increasingly difficult for the alliance to stay away from Turkey as NATO faces Russia, instability in the Middle East and an increasingly contested Black Sea, analysts and former officials say.

“Turkey is crucial to the Trump administration,” former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey, who served as Trump’s special representative for Syria during his first term, told Fox News Digital.

“President Trump has a great relationship with President Erdoğan of Turkey, who has been an incredible partner in the region,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital in a statement, adding that Trump would have a bilateral meeting with Erdoğan at the NATO summit.

Jeffrey said Trump’s affinity for Erdoğan is genuine but reflects much more than personal chemistry.

A Russian anti-aircraft military unit enters combat duty near the town of Djankoy in Crimea, 20 km from the Ukrainian border, November 29, 2018. (Sergei MalgavkoTASS via Getty Images)

Trump’s personal feuds with his allies, from Italy to Israel, reveal how personality determines his foreign policy.

“The first reason, specific to Trump, is that he really likes Erdoğan, and Erdoğan likes him,” Jeffrey said. “It’s the idea of ​​a tough guy that’s decisive.”

But Jeffrey argued that the strategic rationale extends well beyond the relationship between the two leaders, describing Turkey as “essential to maintaining the U.S. perimeter around Eurasia” because of its military strength, geographic position and willingness to project power.

NATO is returning to the fundamentals of collective defense after decades focused largely on fighting terrorism, said Can Kasapoğlu, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute think tank, putting renewed pressure on allies to bring meaningful military capabilities to the table.

“When the alliance returns to its Cold War default, the question of what you bring to the table becomes more important,” he said.

“Countries bringing hard power capability to NATO will receive VIP treatment.”

NATO agreed to a defense spending target of 5% of GDP for all its allies in 2025, after Trump complained for years that European allies and their low defense spending were “ripping off” the United States.

Trump’s attacks on NATO and Russia’s war on Ukraine have changed the situation.

Turkey has the second largest army in NATO after the United States. It controls the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, borders Syria, Iraq and Iran and has built one of NATO’s largest defense industries.

“There is no real security for NATO without full integration of Turkey,” Rich Outzen, a former State Department adviser and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said at a recent preview of the NATO summit.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a press conference during the NATO summit, June 25, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (Pierre Crom/Getty Images)

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria have only increased Turkey’s strategic value, analysts say.

Jeffrey argued that Turkey “played a critical role in keeping Ukraine in the fight,” citing Ankara’s enforcement of the 1936 Montreux Convention, which prevented additional Russian naval reinforcements from entering the Black Sea, its early provision of Bayraktar drones to kyiv, and its role as an intermediary between Ukraine and Russia.

“You can’t contain Russia in the Black Sea without Turkey,” Jeffrey said.

The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime also brought Washington and Turkey closer to closer strategic alignment after years of disagreements over Syria.

Jeffrey argued that Turkey played a central role in supporting the opposition that ultimately toppled Assad, dealing a major blow to both Iran and Russia.

“One of Iran’s biggest losses in the last three years has been Syria, and that’s all Erdogan,” he said.

Not everyone is convinced that Turkey’s growing strategic value should outweigh these concerns.

Critics say Turkey’s foreign policy is increasingly diverging from that of many NATO allies under Erdoğan. They highlight Turkey’s vocal support for Hamas after the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, its continued possession of the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, and its efforts to deepen ties with non-Western blocs such as BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, organizations in which China and Russia play leading roles.

“Turkey is the only NATO member country that has applied to become a member of entities such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and BRICS,” Sinan Ciddi, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said at a press briefing on Wednesday. He also argued that Turkey is unique within the alliance in openly supporting Hamas while seeking expanded access to advanced U.S. defense technology.

Erdoğan has repeatedly defended Hamas and rejected attempts to classify the group as a terrorist organization, putting Turkey at odds with Washington and many other NATO allies. Critics say the stance complicates efforts to deepen U.S.-Turkey defense ties — despite Trump’s personal affection for the Turkish leader.

“The only thing that really stands in the way of Erdoğan’s wishes is essentially the US Congress,” Ciddi said.

The Trump administration has faced pushback from Congress, largely from Democrats, over its decision to move forward with a $700 million arms sale to Turkey.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, accused the State Department of failing to justify the decision or adequately address concerns about Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian-made S-400 system.

The Turkish embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Jeffrey said the proposed $700 million sale of F110 fighter engines is a more manageable issue than Turkey’s return to the F-35 program, arguing that the latter remains limited by the S-400 because operating Russia’s air defense system alongside the United States’ most advanced stealth fighter could compromise sensitive technology.

“The F-35 is a different problem,” Jeffrey said, arguing that operating the Russian-made S-400 alongside the U.S. fifth-generation fighter presents a technical problem — not just a political one — because it could expose sensitive U.S. technology.

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