Trump to meet Zelensky at Ankara NATO summit, press allies on 5% defense spending target

Trump's Ankara schedule

President Trump departs Washington on Monday evening and lands in Ankara on Tuesday afternoon, where he will be welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The two leaders will hold a bilateral meeting, followed by a welcome ceremony and honor guard review. On Wednesday, Trump joins the official NATO welcome, a group photo, and a working session with allied leaders. He will then hold separate bilateral talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Syria's acting president Ahmed al-Sharaa. A press conference is scheduled before his return to Washington on Wednesday evening.

Defense spending: the 5 percent target

US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker told reporters that the summit's main goal is to hold allies accountable for commitments made at the previous summit in The Hague. Those pledges include raising defense spending to 5 percent of GDP by 2035. Allies have declared roughly $139 billion in additional defense expenditures, about half of which is earmarked for US-made weapons.

It's a good start, but some allies are doing more than others. Poland, the Nordic countries, and the Baltic states are leading, and Germany is on track to reach 5 percent in 2029. Many others are lagging behind.

Whitaker said Trump expects all allies to "immediately" get on a trajectory toward 5 percent and reach that level "as soon as possible." He declined to say what consequences would follow if they do not.

Ending the war in Ukraine

The meeting with Zelensky on Wednesday is a centerpiece of Trump's agenda. A senior administration official said the front line has been frozen for months, with neither side making significant advances while huge numbers of people are dying. Trump considers ending the war a long-standing priority.

The front line has been frozen over the last few months. Neither side is making big progress, and at the same time enormous numbers of people are dying.

After the Zelensky meeting, Trump is expected to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin. Asked whether the US supports Ukrainian drone strikes on targets inside Russia, including Moscow, the official avoided a direct answer.

Shifting the conventional defense burden

Whitaker reiterated that the administration's goal is to shift the burden of conventional defense in Europe to European allies and Canada. "The United States remains a proud member of NATO, but we have obligations elsewhere in the world," he said. The US is also reviewing its military presence in Europe, including base deployments, driven by global commitments rather than political considerations. The future of Greenland plays a role in US strategic planning for the Arctic.

Alliance spending trends

NATO data show that European members and Canada increased defense spending by over $90 billion (in 2021 prices) in 2025, a nearly 20 percent rise compared to 2024. Over the past decade, their combined spending rose from 1.4 percent of GDP in 2014 to 2.3 percent in 2025, totaling more than $571 billion (2021 prices). Poland is cited as a leader, while Spain has openly opposed the 5 percent goal. Multi-billion-dollar arms contracts between the US and NATO allies are expected on the summit's sidelines.