by WorldTribune Staff, July 8, 2026 Non-AI Real World News
Asked by reporters late last month if he would have any “gifts” for Turkey when he arrived for this week’s NATO summit, President Donald Trump said: “I’m going to probably do something that will make them very happy.”
Mission accomplished.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he held very fruitful talks with Trump and he left their meeting happy.
President Donald Trump with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. / X
During his visit to Ankara, Trump was expected to throw his support behind the potential sale of U.S. F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
Erdogan also announced that he had discussed joint defense industry cooperation with Trump, which could include shipbuilding, notably frigates, submarines, and corvettes.
Erdogan also told reporters that the U.S. had largely lifted defense sanctions against Turkey.
“You could tell from the moment we got off the plane. Look at the airports – they were beautiful. They built a terminal just for me to come,” Trump said during a press conference after the NATO summit in Ankara.
On the F-35s, the president said: “I haven’t totally made up my mind, but my inclination is to say, look, he’s done everything, he’s helped us in so many different ways.”
While boosting Turkey, Trump berated NATO allies, saying they failed two key tests.
“I’m not happy with NATO because of what they did with Greenland, and I’m not happy with NATO because of the fact they didn’t want to help us with the No. 1 state sponsor of terror — that’s Iran,” Trump told reporters. “They were unwilling to help us.”
“But I was really testing,” Trump revealed. “I wanted to see if they would be there.”
The president revived his claim that Greenland should be under U.S. control rather than Danish control, saying Copenhagen had failed to adequately support the Arctic territory.
Trump has proposed purchasing Greenland from Denmark multiple times, and insisted Tuesday at the summit in Turkey that the territory is critical to global security and that it “should be controlled by the United States, not by Denmark.”
“We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States,” Trump said.
Trump said Danish leadership has not been helpful to Greenland and its people.
“Denmark doesn’t spend money to really help Greenland, but it’s an important part for the United States. And it’s surrounded by China ships and Russian ships,” he said.
.@POTUS: “We’ve invested trillions of dollars in NATO. Why? To protect European countries and others… You would think that they’d be very willing to do something to help us, and they really weren’t… I’ve long said that we help them, but I’m not sure that they’d be there for… pic.twitter.com/qkfqX1CQea
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 7, 2026
