Donald Trump makes false claims and switches aircraft at NATO summit in Ankara

During the NATO summit in Ankara, U.S. President Donald Trump held a press conference and a separate meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In both settings he repeated numerous debunked statements, including that the United States has $19.2 trillion in domestic investment, that he has settled eight wars, that Greenland is surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships, and that the 2020 election was rigged. He also confused Iran with the “Islamic Republic of Japan,” claiming 111 missiles were fired by the latter.

At the same time Trump changed his travel plans, abandoning the newly delivered Qatar‑funded presidential jet and boarding the older Air Force One for the leg to the United Kingdom, where he landed at RAF Mildenhall to show the new aircraft to U.S. service members. Video excerpts from the summit showed him appearing to nod off during briefings, adding to criticism of his conduct.

Fact‑checkers from multiple outlets documented the falsehoods and highlighted the discrepancy between his statements and official data on U.S. investment, manufacturing spending, and military aid to Ukraine.