Live archive
Updates from the White House press pool, searchable as they arrive.
9,192 reports
The motorcade arrived at the Bestepe Presidential Complex at 10:39 a.m. after another short and uneventful drive. Pool is now holding here at the complex. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
The motorcade is once again underway as of 10:31 a.m. We have not seen POTUS yet this morning. The White House passes along that, upon arrival, the President will met by His Excellency Cevdet Yılmaz, The Vice President of Turkey. First item on our agenda is a greeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Bestepe Presidential Complex. For now, this is closed to the pool, though things could always open last…
Good morning from beautiful Ankara, where the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the weather is warm and perfect, with a light breeze. Your pool has been swept and is holding in vans. Important programming note: We are now expecting BOTH POTUS bilats -- with Zelenskyy and al-Sharaa -- to open to the pool. So we should have at least three opportunities to hear from the president today, including the presser this…
President Donald J. Trump and Republicans delivered the largest middle- and working-class tax cuts in history through the Working Families Tax Cuts, which Democrats fought every step of the way. Now, Democrats are smearing Trump Accounts — the program giving every eligible American child a $1,000 head start on building real wealth. These accounts put real capital directly into the hands of the next generation of Ame…
Motorcade arrived back at the RON at 10:45 p.m. and we have a lid. Good night, all! You'll hear from me again in the morning for our second day of the NATO summit and return trip home. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
Motorcade is rolling again as of 10:33 p.m., departing the Presidential Compound. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
The White House also passes along this NATO Leaders’ Social Dinner menu: Stone-Oven Baked Flatbread "Pide" Served with Trabzon Butter and Hizan Honeycomb Vegatables Braised in Olive Oil Served with Burnt Denizli Yoghurt “Manti” Traditional Dumplings Served with Burnt Denizli Yoghurt and Smoked Ayas Tomato Paste Sea Bass Served with "Tarama", Urla Mastic Artichoke and Tokat Grape Leaves or Slow-Roasted Beef Ribe Serv…
Your pool is currently holding in vans, but the White House passes along the following list ofNATO Leaders’ Social Dinner guests: THE PRESIDENT H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye H.E. Mark Rutte, Secretary General of NATO H.E. Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania H.E. Bart de Wever, Prime Minister of Belgium H.E. Rumen Radev, Prime Minister of Bulgaria T.R.H. Mark Carney, Prime Minister o…
Motorcade arrived at the Bestepe Presidential Compound at 8:16 p.m. A few people watched the motorcade go by from their apartment balconies, but an otherwise quiet drive. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
The motorcade is once again rolling as of 8:09 p.m. for the Bestepe Presidential Compound for the NATO Leaders' Social Dinner, which we're expecting to remain closed press. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
Pool will be holding, with a dinner lid until 7 p.m. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
We arrived at the RON at 6:04 p.m. after another uneventful drive that took us through a more populous part of Ankara. Everything here is still so locked down, almost all of the motorcade onlookers were police. We’ll hold here for a bit before heading back to the Bestepe Presidential Compound for the NATO Leaders’ Social Dinner. Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
Pool held for a bit in an auditorium in the main building at the Presidential Complex and loaded into the vans around 5:25 p.m. Pool did not see POTUS enter the Beast, but we are rolling as of 5:55 p.m. Also a fun, but now painfully obvious, fact: The color of the carpets I was describing as aqua are very clearly turquoise. (Because, of course, “turquoise” is derived from the French word for Turkish; and turquoise c…
Please verify all quotes against the Otter I previously sent. Things are moving quickly here. Would flag below comments on Turkish sanctions and Greenland, as well as Erdogan's comments on F-35s. Erdogan, in translation, says the president has made a promise on F-35s: "I believe that President Trump also has made a promise on this separately, and during the meeting of the leaders' summit, we do hope that the promise…
POTUS and Erdogan are now seated for a bilateral meeting. They posed for a picture off the top. And now are sitting opposite each other, in a setup reminiscent of the president’s bilateral meetings in the Oval. On the couch next to the president, in order of closest to furthest from him, are U.S. ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary…
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived at 3:23 p.m.at the Bestepe Presidential Compound to greet President Trump again -- this time with an arrival ceremony and honor guard review. Erdogan started walking down another long, aqua blue carpet here at the presidential compound, from the main building toward the July 15 Martyrs Monument. A brass band with drums is playing upbeat, fanfare style music. There are s…
We pulled into the Bestepe Presidential Compound at 3:20 p.m. Press vans peeled off from the main motorcade a minute earlier to get in place for the arrival. It was an uneventful drive with the sides of the roads leaving the base covered with barricades, some with advertising, and some with official welcome to NATO signage. The route felt very locked down. There were lots of police officers on the route faced away f…
We loaded into the motorcade at 2:28 p.m. and are now rolling to the Bestepe Presidential Compound, which is our next stop, as of 2:52 p.m. Uploaded some videos for reference of the arrival on X here: https://x.com/meganmesserly/status/2074454853225476341?s=46&t=RBDUhP9RBaNOhfHiyd8_3A Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
The woman with Erdogan was a translator -- NOT his wife Ermine. Your pooler apologizes for the error! Megan Messerly White House reporter POLITICO
POTUS stepped off the plane at 2:15 p.m. local time where he was greeted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. An aqua blue carpet was laid out for the president's arrival. Members of the Turkish military were here as well for the arrival. The two men talked for a few moments and posed for photos. Erdogan's wife Emine was here for the greeting. POTUS paused at the end of the carpet to talk with Erdogan, but you…