U.S. President Donald Trump (L) gestures as he speaks during a bilateral meeting at the Bestepe Presidential Compound as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) looks on, following Trump’s arrival to attend the annual NATO Summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump today indicated his support for allowing Turkey to rejoin the F-35 program, setting the stage for a potential reversal of a policy from his first administration — and a likely battle with Congress.
Speaking next to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, Trump said bringing Turkey back into the fifth-generation fighter program is “something certainly we’d consider” and said it’s “a decision we’re going to make.”
“We have a very good relationship. I would think that many people, I can tell you many people, including the people sitting right here think, why wouldn’t we do that?” Trump said ahead of the NATO summit. “We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey’s been in many ways been much more loyal than other countries that we would think would be loyal.”
Turkey was an early partner in the F-35 program, and ultimately planned to buy 100 of the conventional F-35A model. Its first jet officially rolled off the line in 2018. But in July 2019, the first Trump administration declared that it was removing Turkey from the F-35 program after Erdogan decided to procure the Russian-made S-400 air defense system, which US and NATO governments worried would be able to gather intelligence on the Joint Strike Fighter.
