When Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last traveled to Washington, for a state visit in 2013, President Barack Obama praised him for launching peace talks with Kurdish separatists and leading his country into a new era of economic prosperity.

Mr. Erdogan can expect a very different reception when he returns this week for the Nuclear Security Summit.

Mr. Obama has turned down Mr. Erdogan’s request to join him for the inauguration of a Turkish-funded mosque in Maryland, and the U.S. president has no plans for a formal one-on-one meeting with his Turkish counterpart, who is a vital ally in the fight against Islamic State, U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal.

The White House is instead expected to have Vice President Joe Biden meet with Mr. Erdogan.

Senior U.S. administration officials said the decision not to meet Mr. Erdogan while he is in Washington shouldn’t be taken as a slight because the two presidents met in November at the Group of 20 summit in Turkey, and spoke by phone in February.