Trump praises Turkish President Erdoğan, calls NATO summit in Ankara ‘success’

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “a great leader” and described the two-day NATO summit in Ankara as “very successful.”

“We just concluded a very successful NATO summit here in Türkiye,” Trump said at a news conference as the two-day NATO summit ended in the Turkish capital.

Trump thanked Erdoğan for hosting the summit.

“I want to thank President Erdoğan, who’s really a great man. He’s a great leader. He’s a friend of mine, been a friend of mine for a long time. He’s a strong person, a very strong personality, and that’s why he runs such a successful and good country,” he added.

The summit brought together leaders of the 32-member alliance, as well as key partners to discuss Europe’s defense capacity, the alliance’s defense spending targets, military modernization and continued support for Ukraine.

Trump said they discussed the target of spending 5% of GDP on defense. He added that at last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, the allies achieved “an unprecedented agreement” to increase the benchmark annual defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP.

The president said that as a result of the commitment last year, defense spending by other NATO members surged by almost $150 billion in 2025.

“In the working session this morning, we discussed the progress other members are making toward the 5% target,” he said. “Some have truly answered the call, and others are making big changes and will be answering the call.”

Trump said there was “tremendous unity” at the summit.

“And I urge all nations to accelerate their plans to get the benchmark as quickly as possible. The benchmark is going to be that 5% number, that’s the number it should have been for years,” he added.

He again praised the summit, saying that “this was a tremendously successful summit. And again, I want to thank President Erdoğan.”

Asked why he is unable to end the Iran war, Trump defended his handling of the conflict.

“So, I think we’re doing just the opposite. The Iran war has been a tremendous military success, and you know, I can only answer the question by saying they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” he added.