After a lavish welcome in Ankara, NATO allies were working carefully to keep US President Donald Trump onside ahead of the summit’s harder talks on Wednesday, as tensions over defense spending, Iran and Ukraine threatened to overshadow the gathering. Trump arrived in the Turkish capital full of praise for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, highlighting their personal “chemistry” in remarks that contrasted sharply with his continued frustration toward European allies over the war on Iran.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. “I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump repeated, setting the tone for the alliance’s main session, where leaders are expected to face an unpredictable US president pressing them to spend more, take greater responsibility for Europe’s defense and align more closely with Washington’s priorities. The summit comes at a fraught moment for the 77-year-old transatlantic alliance. Trump has demanded that NATO members follow through on pledges to increase defense spending as Washington takes a step back from Europe, while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to test the alliance’s military and political resolve. On the eve of the key session, NATO published figures showing core defense spending by Europe had risen by 11 percent in 2026 and was expected to reach $634 billion, up from $571 billion a year earlier. AFP reported that allies, keen to avoid a new confrontation with Trump, unveiled tens of billions of dollars in new arms contracts on Tuesday in an effort to show that Europe was making good on its promise to spend more.