Trump Says US Lifting Sanctions to Allow F-35 Sales to Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey—U.S. President Donald Trump announced on July 7 that he is working to lift sanctions preventing Turkey from obtaining F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jets.

Turkey was an early partner on the F-35 program but was barred from obtaining the advanced aircraft after purchasing Russian S-400 air defense systems in 2019. These S-400 purchases ran afoul of the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. 

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump told reporters, following a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara on July 7. “It’s time to do that.”

Reversing sanctions will require multiple steps. A provision of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act requires the secretaries of state and war to certify that Turkey’s military no longer operates the S-400 and has offered assurances that it will not accept such Russian air defense systems before it can begin receiving F-35s.

Trump told reporters that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and War Secretary Pete Hegseth are developing a plan to address the legal hurdles blocking F-35 transfers for Turkey.

The U.S. president has previously signaled a willingness to welcome Turkey back into the F-35 program and has defended Erdogan for the S-400 purchases, publicly blaming the Obama administration for failing to sell American Patriot missiles to Turkey.

“It’s a decision we’re going to make. We have a very good relationship,” Trump said when asked whether he would sell the jets to Ankara.

“Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal. So, something certainly we consider.”

Trump landed at Etimesgut Air Base just before 2 p.m. local time. This marks the first visit to Turkey by a sitting U.S. president since President Barack Obama attended the G20 summit in Antalya in 2015.

In September 2025, Erdogan visited the White House for the first time in six years.

When Trump touched down in Ankara, Erdogan welcomed him with a warm reception, followed by a state arrival ceremony and a formal honor guard review at the presidential complex.

The leaders sat down for their bilateral meeting before attending the NATO leaders’ social dinner.

In his opening remarks at the meeting, Trump praised his relationship with Erdogan, calling it “good chemistry.”

“Because of the relationship that we have, it’s all gone very well. I want to say I have a lot of respect for the president,” he said.

Both leaders would discuss trade, military cooperation, and Iran, Trump said.

Trump-Erdogan Relations

During Trump’s first term, his relationship with Erdogan hit a low point after Turkey refused to release Andrew Brunson, an American evangelical pastor, who was detained on terrorism charges linked to the failed 2016 coup. Trump responded by imposing steep tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Turkey, which led to a currency crisis in the country. Brunson was released in late 2018.

A year later, Trump sent Erdogan a public letter warning that he could “destroy” Turkey’s economy if Ankara refused to end its military offensive in northern Syria. Since then, ties between the two leaders have steadily improved.

Although Turkey is a NATO ally, the U.S. Congress remains concerned about Turkey’s Russian ties and human rights record. Erdogan is facing growing pressure from the international community after the arrest and suspension of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his major political rival. The European Commission and the German Foreign Office condemned the crackdown, saying political competition should not be fought via the judiciary.

Despite their differences, Ankara and Washington have recently pursued broadly similar goals when it comes to Syria.

Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the United States and Turkey have become more closely aligned on their key objectives in the country, with U.S. Ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack serving as a key coordinator.

Turkey hosts “some 3 million Syrians, the largest refugee population in the world and a central actor in the country’s stabilization and reconstruction,” Barrack said in a statement.

On July 8, Trump will meet with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on the sidelines of the NATO Summit.

The U.S. president is also scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before returning to Washington.

“The scale and financing of continued allied assistance to Kyiv is expected to be a central topic,” Barrack said.

Defense Spending Goals

At the Ankara summit, alliance members are expected to review progress on defense spending commitments made at last year’s summit in The Hague.

NATO allies agreed to dramatically increase their defense spending targets to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a plan that Trump had long championed.

Under the agreement, allies committed to spending at least 3.5 percent of their GDP annually on core defense requirements by 2035 while dedicating an additional 1.5 percent to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, civil preparedness, innovation, and strengthening the defense industrial base.

Although overall spending has increased, progress remains uneven across the alliance.

“The United States remains a proud NATO member,” U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matt Whitaker told reporters during the preview call on July 5. “But we have responsibilities elsewhere in the world as the world’s only superpower.

“President Trump expects all allies to step up immediately.”

Leaders would also focus on ramping up production to increase the alliance’s defense industrial capacity.