U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to endorse the potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye and tell President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan he's prepared to restore Ankara's access to the multinational program building the warplane, reports said Tuesday.
The move would be the biggest gesture yet from Trump – who is traveling to Ankara to attend a NATO summit – to Erdoğan, whom he regularly praises and sees as a close ally. The two countries have enjoyed warmer ties since Trump returned to office last year.
U.S. in 2020 imposed sanctions and removed Türkiye from the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, where Ankara was also a production partner, following its purchase of Russian S-400 air defense system.
Washington claimed the system would endanger the jets and is inoperable with NATO systems, while Ankara repeatedly said there is no conflict between the two and proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension broke the rules.
Ankara maintains that the jets would strengthen not only Türkiye, but also NATO.
