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Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Jul. 7, 2026

July 7, 2026 · The White House · 0:30:56

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump met President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey in Ankara on July 7, 2026, on his arrival for the NATO summit. Erdogan welcomed “my valuable friend Mr. President Trump,” saying his participation “added strength to the summit.” Trump returned the praise: landing at the airport, he said, he had found “a building named after me. I was very happy about that,” and he called Turkey under Erdogan “a very powerful country militarily… they have a lot of our equipment and they have a lot of great soldiers.”

The two leaders previewed talks on trade, military matters, and Iran — “we have essentially decimated their military. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. In questions from reporters, a possible F-35 sale to Turkey drew the meeting’s headline answer: “It’s a decision we’re going to make… something certainly we would consider. It’s a great plane, it’s the best currently — the best plane by far.” Asked what made the relationship special, the President pointed to the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson: “I called the president and he released him immediately. Something that the evangelical community will never forget.” He also said he had been “very disappointed with NATO” and might not have attended a summit hosted anywhere else.

Why it matters

The bilateral is the dated opening record of the Ankara summit: the host relationship stated by both men, the trade and military agenda as they framed it, and an F-35 sale placed on the table on camera by the President. This chronicle files it on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub; the July 8 summit sessions in this collection carry the story forward.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s on-record statement that an F-35 sale to Turkey is something the United States “will consider” is a dated position with a checkable outcome. Noted for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Meeting with the President of the Republic of Turkey,” Ankara, Turkey, July 7, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All characterizations as stated by the two leaders and the President’s answers to reporters at the meeting.