Trump Arrives in Turkey Ahead of NATO Summit

JAKARTA - US President Donald Trump has arrived in Turkey ahead of a crucial NATO summit. The president, who flew on a new Air Force One plane donated by Qatar, landed in Ankara after an overnight flight from Washington.

This is the first flight of the aircraft on the president's foreign service trip.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the airport before continuing his bilateral meeting agenda at the presidential complex.

Previously, the United States Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Matthew Whitaker stated that his party was actively looking for ways to reduce the US contribution to the defense alliance.

However, he said the US was not considering leaving NATO.

"We are not going to leave (the alliance), we just (want) to contribute less because we face various needs and challenges globally," he told CNBC.

Whitaker also emphasized that the current dynamics between NATO and the United States is not a crisis, but rather a "maturation process".

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized NATO member European countries for not making adequate contributions to the alliance's defense capabilities.

Trump also urged allied countries to increase defense budgets by 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

NATO is scheduled to hold a summit this year in Ankara, Turkey, on July 7-8.