Trump lands in Turkey ahead of NATO Leaders’ Summit

United States President Donald Trump has made his way to Ankara, Turkey, on Tuesday to attend the NATO summit, where Trump is set to get assurances from the leadership of the NATO alliance on increasing defence spending.

As reported by the AFP correspondent, Trump has already landed in the capital of Turkey prior to the important meeting.

The US president will have a discussion with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the presidential palace and then join an official dinner hosted for other world leaders. As for the main summit meeting, it is expected to start tomorrow.

Trump touched down at 1:51 pm (1051 GMT) after flying for the first time abroad on a new Air Force One aircraft that he received from Qatar. Upon landing, he was welcomed on the airport by Erdogan and a guard of the presidential palace, some wearing blue uniforms, some red.

On his first visit to Ankara, Trump was to be driven to Erdogan’s presidential palace, where guards in costumes of warriors of ancient times were waiting for him at the entrance steps.

The palace has tall atriums and impressive halls, with interiors made of onyx, marble and intricate designs.

The lavishness would not be lost on Trump as one room had an impressionistic portrait of Erdogan and a cabinet featuring a crystal panther, an AFP correspondent said.

Before Trump visits, NATO partners have attempted to highlight their increased spending on defence by signing huge deals for weapons as a way to appeasing the irritable US president’s anger at Europe for its reaction to the war with Iran.

The two-day meeting follows a year since NATO countries vowed to increase their expenditures in security matters to five percent of their GDP in light of US president pressure.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte believes that the European nations are ‘delivering’ through boosting their military budgets and taking more responsibility for their own continent’s defence against Russia.