As NATO gathers for its two-day annual summit in Ankara, Turkey, hosted at President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s sprawling presidential palace, the transatlantic military alliance is making a high-stakes push to win over U.S. President Donald Trump ahead of his arrival. On the eve of the gathering, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced that Tuesday’s “big reveal” event will showcase a slate of new multi-billion dollar military procurement projects, many of which involve contracts with American defense contractors.
This showcase comes as NATO seeks to prove to the U.S. commander-in-chief that European and Canadian allies are following through on longstanding pledges to boost defense investment and convert financial commitments into tangible military capabilities. Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO, labeling the alliance a “paper tiger” that relies entirely on U.S. military leadership and technology to function, and has demanded that allies meet higher defense spending targets. Even before the summit, Rutte attempted to ease U.S. frustrations by presenting a new chart branded “The Trump Trillion,” which highlights that European allies and Canada have spent a combined $1.2 trillion on defense since 2017. However, Trump remained unmoved by the figure, noting he was still disappointed that many allies declined to back the U.S.-led and Israel-supported military campaign against Iran, launched without prior alliance consultation. “We don’t need their money — we don’t need anything,” Trump told reporters. “I just want loyalty.”
Among the key contracts set to be unveiled at the event is a major deal to replace NATO’s aging fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft, which have been in service for roughly 50 years. While all frontline weaponry in NATO is owned by individual member states rather than the alliance itself, NATO operates a shared fleet of surveillance aircraft complemented by newer drone systems. A portion of the new projects will be funded through the European Union’s low-interest defense loan system, which has raised up to $170 billion on international capital markets for this purpose. Rutte emphasized that the goal of this push is to turn economic capacity into usable military strength. “We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,” he said.
Beyond defense spending debates, the summit has been roiled by a growing diplomatic dispute over a potential U.S. F-35 fighter jet sale to Turkey. Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after purchasing Russian-made S-400 air defense systems, but Trump, who maintains close personal ties with Erdogan, has hinted that the U.S. could resume sales during his Ankara visit. The move has drawn sharp pushback from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who publicly urged the U.S. to block the sale during an appearance on Fox News’ *Fox & Friends* Monday morning. Netanyahu argued that the sale would upend regional military balances, noting that Erdogan has “called openly for the annihilation of Israel.” Relations between Turkey and Israel have been deeply strained since the outbreak of the Gaza war, which began after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Erdogan has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza, while Netanyahu has pushed back against Turkish policy in the region. “Selling Turkey F-35s would upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said. Israel’s own air force operates a large fleet of U.S.-manufactured fighter jets, including dozens of F-35s alongside older F-16 and F-15 models.
The core strategic agenda of the 2025 Ankara summit centers on the framework of “a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO,” aligned with the Trump administration’s push to reorient U.S. foreign policy. Washington has made clear that it wants European allies to take full ownership of continental security, allowing the U.S. to shift its military and diplomatic focus to countering China in the Indo-Pacific region. The Pentagon is advancing this shift under a vision it calls “NATO 3.0,” which restructures the alliance to put Europe in the lead for its own defense while maintaining U.S. support.
Even so, increasing defense spending to meet alliance targets has proven politically fraught for many member states, as it requires either tax hikes or reallocating funds from domestic priorities. Just last month, United Kingdom Defense Secretary John Healey resigned unexpectedly over the British government’s refusal to approve higher military spending amid rising global security threats. Outgoing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation on June 22, is attending what is expected to be his final foreign trip in office. Starmer’s government has committed to reaching the NATO target of devoting 3.5% of gross domestic product to defense by 2035, but has faced widespread criticism from military leaders, opposition parties, and even some members of his own center-left Labour Party for failing to release a concrete roadmap to hit the target. Current plans only project defense spending will reach 2.7% of GDP by 2029.
Across Northern and Central Eastern Europe, allied capitals are growing increasingly concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch a large-scale hybrid attack on NATO territory as he continues to face stalemate in his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hybrid attacks combine limited conventional military action with subversive tactics including cyberattacks, disinformation, and proxy operations to destabilize alliance members without triggering a full collective defense response.