President Donald Trump has arrived in Turkey for this year’s North American Treaty Organization leaders summit as tensions between the United States and the rest of the 32-member defensive alliance remain at an all-time high.
Trump was greeted by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he disembarked from the former Qatari luxury jet he is using as Air Force One in Ankara and shortly after the two leaders participated in an arrival ceremony at the Turkish presidential residence.
As Trump and Erdogan reviewed troops, a military band played the John Phillip Sousa march “Stars and Stripes Forever” while Turkish fighter jets performed a flyover while trailing red, white and blue smoke.
Erdogan, whose authoritarian tendencies have led some of Trump’s critics to compare him to the longtime Turkish leader, welcomed Trump to Turkey and called him his “valuable friend” at a bilateral meeting shortly after the arrival ceremony.
For his part, Trump praised Erdogan as his “great friend” and said he has “a lot of respect” for Erdogan while lauding the “special relationship” between the two leaders.
“I just want to say that I have a lot of respect for the President, and I think it’s really to the benefit of both countries … it’s an honor to be with you, and we’re going to have a lot of good meetings, we’re going to have good dinners, good food, we’re going to have a good time, but mostly we’re going to have a lot of work, and we’re going to do good things for our countries,” he said.
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