President Donald Trump is expected to signal this week in Turkey that he is willing to sell the country F-35 fighter jets, according to two US officials familiar with the plans, reversing a ban he put in place during his first term that has since been ratified into law.
How, exactly, Trump plans to get around the congressional ban on the fighter jet sales remained unclear. But he said ahead of his trip he intends to arrive in Turkey with a “gift” for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that would “make him very happy.”
Trump banned Turkey from purchasing the American-made F-35s in 2019 after the country purchased the Russian air defense system named S-400. He did so reluctantly, however, blaming the Obama administration for the situation and sympathizing with Erdogan for the “very tough situation that they’ve been forced in.”
Congress codified the ban into law in 2020, and said the F-35s could be transferred if Turkey no longer possessed the S-400s.
The Russian system is built to defeat US stealth technology, leading officials in Washington to worry that if Turkey took delivery of F-35s, the Russian system could be used to collect valuable information about the fifth-generation fighter jet.
Many Republicans in Congress are skeptical of transferring F-35s to Turkey, as is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Fox News this week that such a move would “upset the balance of power in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israel’s air superiority and also America’s posture in the Middle East.”
But Trump considers Erdogan a friend, and had tasked senior administration officials with reviewing the matter to find a solution that would adhere to the law.