Trump lands in Ankara as NATO unveils new defense projects to win him over ahead of summit | Today’s news
President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon NATO summit as the alliance announced billions of dollars in arms deals in what appeared to be an effort to win over the American leader, according to the AP.
Trump, who has previously criticized European allies for insufficient defense spending, was first scheduled to meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, a close ally hosting this year’s summit, who welcomed him warmly at a local air base, the report said.
The “big reveal” of new NATO projects
Earlier in the day, NATO unveiled a series of billion-dollar military projects that Secretary-General Mark Rutte called “money well spent,” the AP reported. Because NATO as an organization does not own weapons that remain the property of its 32 member nations, the alliance currently relies on an aging fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft, the report said.
The deal to replace those planes was announced Tuesday, with Swedish manufacturer Saab set to deliver up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance planes to a consortium of 10 countries, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said, according to the AP. Some of these projects, the report added, will be financed through the European Union’s system of offering cheap defense loans worth up to $170 billion raised in the capital markets. Rutte said the alliance needed to convert its economic strength into military capability.
According to the AP, representatives of 15 countries announced a joint effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport aircraft from Airbus, while Rutte separately announced a plan by four countries to acquire new Triton surveillance drones. Rutte earlier said the alliance would unveil tens of billions of dollars in new contracts, although no specific numbers were released at Tuesday’s event and some projects were said to have been agreed earlier.
The AP noted that the display followed Rutte’s recent attempt to ease US concerns with a chart labeled “Trump Trillion,” highlighting $1.2 trillion in defense spending by European allies and Canada since 2017. Trump, however, seemed unconvinced, saying he remains unhappy that some allies have refused to join the Iran conflict, adding that he wanted loyalist money rather than Israel.
The report also noted debate over the possible resumption of F-35 jet sales to Turkey, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urging Washington against it, and ongoing discussions about Ukraine’s push for NATO membership, led by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
