US President Donald Trump praised his "chemistry" with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he arrived in Ankara for a NATO summit Tuesday, while hitting out at European allies for their response to his war in Iran.
Trump was greeted personally by Erdoğan on the tarmac as he descended from Air Force One, before being escorted through the empty streets of the Turkish capital by a guard of riders on white horses.
The summit comes at a fraught time for the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance, as Trump has lashed out at allies and Washington steps back from Europe.
"I was very disappointed with NATO," Trump said, sitting next to Erdoğan at the Turkish leader's vast presidential palace.
"Frankly, if it (the summit) weren't held in Türkiye, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it's possible that I wouldn't have attended."
NATO officials are hoping Trump's strong relationship with the Turkish leader could help smooth over the bad blood caused by the Iran war.
"It's a chemistry that works between us," Trump said.
In a potentially major boost for Erdoğan, Trump said Washington would consider selling F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye, after booting it out of the programme in 2019 over Ankara's purchase of a Russian system.
Turkey has long sought to resolve the question of its readmittance to the F35 programme and the lifting of US sanctions that have soured ties and hampered Turkish defence projects -- and has looked to Trump's visit to break the deadlock.
"Mr Trump has also personally given us his word on this matter," Erdoğan said.
European leaders are aiming to avoid a bust-up with the mercurial US leader that could deal a further blow to NATO's credibility, after Trump repeatedly cast doubt on Washington's commitment to protecting its allies.
But ahead of their main session on Wednesday, the US president was clearly still smarting over the restrictions some allies placed on US forces using bases at the start of the Iran conflict.
"I was testing to see whether or not they'd be there, because I've long said that we helped them," he said.
"Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down."
Trump also risked reopening another old wound with NATO when he reiterated his stance that Greenland "should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark".
In a bid to prove to Trump that they are making good on a pledge last year to ramp up defence-related spending to five percent of GDP, NATO allies unveiled tens of billions in news arms contracts ahead of his arrival.
NATO chief Mark Rutte has insisted European countries are "delivering" by bolstering military budgets and moving to take more responsibility for the defence of their continent in the face of Russia.
"These are billions that are invested in our security, boosting our economies and supporting hundreds of thousands of new jobs," Rutte said at a glitzy industry forum.
The alliance released its latest spending figures for 2026 showing that core defence spending by Europe and Canada was set to rise 11 percent this year to $634 billion.
European leaders hope to keep Trump as engaged as possible with NATO, while appreciating that Washington is stepping back from the continent to focus on other global challenges.
"We are building a more European NATO so that it can remain transatlantic," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz posted online.
