Trump to lift Turkey sanctions, but F-35 sale still faces hurdles
President Donald Trump said the U.S. will lift sanctions on Turkey and is open to selling the country F-35 fighter jets, but he stopped short of announcing a deal.
Speaking before a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara, Trump said his secretary of state and Treasury secretary were working on removing sanctions tied to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, Reuters reported.
“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump told reporters.
On the F-35s, Trump was more cautious. He praised Turkey as a NATO ally and called the F-35 “the best plane by far,” but said only that a sale was “certainly something we will consider.”
F-35 hurdle remains
Trump’s comments point toward a broader reset in U.S.-Turkey relations, but the biggest obstacle to an F-35 deal remains unresolved.
Turkey was removed from the F-35 program after its 2019 purchase of the Russian-made S-400 system. The concern in Washington was that Russia could learn about the F-35’s stealth technology if Turkey operated the Russian system alongside the U.S.-made fighter jet.
Congress later passed a law blocking F-35 sales to Turkey unless the administration can determine that Ankara no longer possesses the S-400s, The New York Times reported. Reuters also reported that current U.S. law does not allow Turkey to operate or possess the S-400 system if it wants to rejoin the F-35 program.
That means Trump’s support alone may not be enough.
What Trump said
“Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,” Trump said on Tuesday. “It’s a great plane, it’s the best, currently the best plane by far. And it’s certainly something we will consider.”
The Times reported ahead of the meeting that Trump was expected to signal he was prepared to restore Turkey’s access to the F-35 program. But officials also cautioned that the details were not settled and that Trump could change his mind.
What still has to be worked out
One issue still stands in the way: Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 missile system.
Reuters reported that one possible solution gaining traction would involve sending the Russian system to a third country, but no agreement has been reached. It was also unclear whether Russia would accept such a move because of end-user obligations in weapons sales.
Sanctions on Turkey’s defense procurement agency remain in place, and some F-35s paid for by Turkey but never delivered are stored in the U.S., according to a Congressional Research Service report.
Congress could also resist any effort to restore the sale.
NATO moves on surveillance aircraft
Separately, NATO also used the Ankara summit to announce a separate aircraft plan.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said several allies will jointly acquire up to 10 Saab GlobalEye Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft to replace the alliance’s aging E-3 Sentry surveillance planes, Breaking Defense reported.
The Associated Press reported that NATO has 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the new aircraft would be “made within the alliance for all the alliance.”
Breaking Defense reported that NATO selected the Swedish aircraft after allies walked away from a planned purchase of Boeing E-7A Wedgetail aircraft. Saab CEO Micael Johansson said the first GlobalEye aircraft could be supplied by 2030.
What’s next
The sanctions decision appears settled. The F-35 sale does not.
Trump’s comments make clear he wants to strengthen defense ties with Erdogan, but there is still no agreement on how Turkey would satisfy the legal requirements for the jets.
The issue also comes with regional pushback. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. not to sell F-35s to Turkey, saying it would “upset the power balance in the Middle East,” according to The Associated Press.
The GlobalEye purchase reflects another NATO priority: replacing aging surveillance aircraft while converting higher defense spending into new military capability.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
