20.06.2026 US President Donald Trump has publicly confirmed for the first time that he plans to travel to Turkey this year, weeks after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he would attend the NATO Summit in Ankara.
“We’ll be going to Turkey,” Trump told reporters Friday, June 19, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, without naming the summit or giving a date.
🇺🇸🇹🇷 Trump told Erdoğan that he attended NATO’s Ankara summit “only because of him,” according to Middle East Eye. pic.twitter.com/xkTORbpVUJ
— Defence Index (@Defence_Index) June 18, 2026
The visit is expected to take place for the NATO meeting of heads of state and government scheduled for July 7 and 8. Also Rubio told a congressional hearing on June 3 that Trump would attend the Summit.
🇹🇷 I 🇺🇸 Trump confirms upcoming Türkiye visit for NATO summit
US President says he is going to Türkiye for NATO summit set to be held in Ankara on July 7–8 https://t.co/ZkFvxkMJLM pic.twitter.com/R9cOEiuzYz
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) June 19, 2026
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a day earlier that Trump had repeatedly indicated during telephone calls with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he planned to attend.
This week the Allied Defence Ministers had their last meeting before the NATO Summit in Ankara next month. Secretary General Mark Rutte described how the ministers made “good progress” on NATO’s priorities. “Spending more, and better, on the forces and capabilities we need to defend every inch of Allied territory. Around the table today I heard Ally, after Ally, after Ally explaining how they are increasing investment in defence,” he said.
