US President Donald Trump traveled to Ankara for the NATO summit only out of respect for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, CNN reports.

Trump had earlier stated that he considers the Turkish leader his friend.

A CNN source reported that the US president and members of his team were privately informed that refusing to attend the NATO summit would be perceived as disrespectful towards Erdogan.

At the same time, the American leader was skeptical from the beginning about the meeting with his allies in NATO, as he was dissatisfied with the fact that many of them did not support the US in the war with Iran. In this regard, CNN sources are not sure that the aforesaid summit will go smoothly, given the bad mood of the US president.

Trump is expected to arrive in Ankara on Tuesday morning. The Turkish side has prepared a high-level official ceremony for him.

After the talks, Erdogan and Trump will hold separate press conferences, local commentators expect.