ISTANBUL—U.S. President Donald Trump will travel to Ankara, Turkey, on Monday evening to attend the NATO summit on July 7 and 8, where leaders are expected to review progress on the alliance’s defense spending commitments and burden-sharing goals.
Hosted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the summit brings together the leaders of NATO’s 32 member states amid continued pressure from the Trump administration for allies, particularly in Europe, to increase defense spending and assume a greater share of the alliance’s security responsibilities.
Trump’s Schedule
Trump is expected to arrive in Ankara on the afternoon of June 7, where he will be welcomed by Erdogan with a state arrival ceremony and honor guard review. The two leaders are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting that evening before joining the NATO leaders’ social dinner, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told reporters during a call previewing the summit.
On June 8, Trump will attend the official welcome ceremony and family photo, followed by a NATO leaders’ working session. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines, Kelly said. The president will hold a press conference before departing Ankara.
Burden Sharing
At last year’s summit in The Hague, NATO allies agreed to dramatically increase their defense spending targets to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a plan that Trump had long championed.
“The Ankara summit will measure progress against the Hague Defense Commitment,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker told reporters during the preview call.
While overall spending has increased, progress remains uneven across the alliance.
“The United States remains a proud NATO member,” Whitaker said. “But we have responsibilities elsewhere in the world as the world’s only superpower.
“This Ankara summit is really the time for our allies to step up.”
Last year, Trump hailed the agreement as a “historic milestone” that “no one really thought possible.”
The 2025 spending numbers suggest momentum is building.
“Since the Hague, allies have responded and have committed nearly $139 billion in defense spending, roughly half of that being on American-made equipment and weapons and munitions,” Whitaker said during the call.
In June 2026, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also announced that European allies and Canada increased their core defense spending by more than $90 billion in 2025 alone.
“That is an astounding figure, amounting to a nearly 20 percent increase in a single year, with further increases already on the books for 2026,” Rutte said during NATO defense ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
Germany, Poland, the Baltic states, and the Nordic countries have significantly increased their defense budgets, while Spain, Canada, and the UK are among those lagging behind.
“President Trump expects all allies to step up immediately,” Whitaker said.
America’s Future Role in Europe
Another major issue hanging over the summit is the future of the U.S. military presence in Europe.
The Trump administration has repeatedly signaled that Washington expects Europe to shoulder more of the burden for the continent’s defense. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is conducting a comprehensive review of its force posture across Europe.
“Both our National Security Strategy and our National Defense Strategy talk about the priority we’re placing on burden shifting in Europe,” a senior U.S. official said during the call.
The official said the review could eventually lead to reductions in U.S. troops and military assets stationed in Europe, although no final decision has been made.
Greenland Back on the Agenda
Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, is also expected to be a sensitive issue during the summit.
Trump’s interest in acquiring the island resurfaced last week after Jeff Landry, the president’s special envoy to Greenland and governor of Louisiana, said Trump recently told him that the United States needs to “get Greenland.”
“He hasn’t forgotten about it,” Landry said during an interview with Breitbart.
The comments came despite an agreement reached earlier this year among the United States, Denmark, and Greenland to pursue high-level diplomatic negotiations to ease tensions over the issue. Although Denmark is a NATO ally, the Trump administration has raised concerns about the island’s defense.
The senior U.S. official said during the call that there is broad agreement among NATO allies that security concerns surrounding Greenland have grown significantly due to increased naval activity in the Arctic.
The official said Trump continues to believe the best long-term solution is for the United States to acquire Greenland, though the administration is also “exploring other mechanisms.”
The goal of the president, the official said, is to find a lasting solution rather than leave the issue unresolved for future presidents.
“As of now, the only solution that we found … is the United States acquiring Greenland. But we'll continue to explore other options to address those considerations.”
