The 2026 NATO summit is scheduled for today and tomorrow in Ankara, Turkey. According to Fox News, Trump admitted he is going to the summit because of Turkish President Recep Erdogan.
According to Pentagon analyst Col. Robert Maginnis, Trump would consider the meeting a success if he could come home with any of three goals met.
“He'd like to get NATO aboard the Iran decision and fully supporting what's going on there. Obviously, he also wants NATO members to spend what they've committed to a couple of years ago,” Maginnis states.
The third goal is aimed at Erdogan.
“Erdogan, of course, is cozy with Russia — Putin in particular, and he'd like to see him distance himself from Russia,” says Maginnis. “I don't think any of the three are going to be a likely outcome, though that's probably on the agenda.”
Maginnis says Erdogan has been moving Turkey away from NATO's core mission toward a more radical Islamic alliance.
“They were a pretty good ally for a while, but now they're against the Israelis, they're against the Kurds, they're helping the Russians, and they're not very helpful to us in the region,” Maginnis states.
All of which was predictable to Maginnis.
“I've never favored NATO embracing Turkey because I don't think the Turks are European. I think that they're Middle Eastern,” Maginnis says.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahy is lobbying Trump to not sell any weapons to Turkey that will modernize their air force while he’s at the NATO summit, according to Axios. He spoke to Trump last Friday and asked him to keep Turkey's armory bare while he does business with NATO allies.
CNN reports that Trump is already considering lifting sanctions on Turkey and selling them F-35 fighter jets.
In an interview with Fox News, Netanyahu says that the Turkish president cannot be trusted.
“It's governed by a man who calls openly for the annihilation of Israel,” Natanyahu states. “And he talks openly about conquering Jerusalem.”
Turkey is also in the process, he says, of switching sides in the struggle of the Western democracies v. Islamic extremists alliances.
“For a regime infected by the Muslim Brotherhood, an extreme movement that hates America and chants ‘Death to America’ from that side of the spectrum, I don't think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets,” Natanyahu says.
Ultimately, the Israeli leader admits, Israel will be responsible for its own safety. As he puts it, Tukey gaining these weapons would change the status quo.
“That will upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority,” Natanyahu states.
Maginnis says that, despite the recent rhetoric that seems to be forming a wedge between the two leaders, Israel and the U.S. are almost completely aligned when it comes to the balance of power in the Middle East.
“Clearly, Netanyahu has tensions with Erdogan. He has tensions, obviously, with Lebanon and Syria, and they're aligned. The Israelis are pretty supportive of the Kurds, like we are,” Maginnis states.
