Trump Kicks Off NATO Summit With F-35 Bombshell and a Reality Check for Europe

After a wildly successful weekend celebrating 250 years of American independence, President Trump boarded the new Air Force One on Monday night and headed for the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

In May, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stated the goal of this week's summit was "to turn Allied commitments into concrete results. Increased investment, industrial production and continued support for Ukraine. All of this contributes to a stronger NATO and greater security for all of us."

The president kicked things off Tuesday by meeting with Turkish President Erdoğan at the Beştepe Presidential Complex in Ankara. Right off the bat, President Trump revealed he is considering letting Turkey back into the F-35 program, which could involve selling the fighter jets to Turkey's air force.

.@POTUS on the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey: "It's a decision we are going to make... Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal — so, yeah, it's something certainly we would consider." pic.twitter.com/TqAUwkTpV5
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 7, 2026

This revelation comes on the heels of Vice President Vance stating last week that the Pentagon was reviewing how the U.S. could resume selling F-35s to Turkey following the country's 2019 acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defense systems. The U.S. believed that purchase could compromise the F-35.

Germany Urges New Boost From Europe on Its Own Defense After Trump Pulls US Troops

Per the vice president:

"Pete and the entire team are reviewing this right now, ‌because ⁠there are certain things that we have to certify have happened ... in ⁠order to comply with American law. The president has ⁠asked us to do that," Vance ⁠told reporters.

After the revelation that Turkey could be brought back into the F-35 program, Trump addressed questions about the outsized role the U.S. has played over the years in the funding of NATO.

.@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

"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 us — and Italy turned us down, and Germany turned us down, and France turned us down. And that's okay, but why are we spending hundreds of billions of dollars and they're not there for us? We've always been there for them."

When the topic inevitably move to Russia, which is in year five of its war with neighboring Ukraine, President Trump said he had "a long talk" Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which was followed by a conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. The president took from those conversations that both countries "want to make a deal."

.@POTUS: "I had a very good talk with President Putin... We had a long talk yesterday — it lasted a long time — and I also spoke with President Zelensky right after that. I think they both want to make a deal... I think something's going to come out." pic.twitter.com/1ZOR8Yfi85
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 7, 2026

What many Americans will be looking for from this year's summit is assurances that member nations who committed last year to spending 5% of their GDP on defense and security-related priorities by the year 2035 are making good on those promises.

Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump and his administration’s bold leadership, we are respected on the world stage, and our enemies are being put on notice.

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