President Trump said on Tuesday that the US will lift sanctions imposed on Turkey in 2020 and that he would “certainly consider” selling F-35 fighter jets to the country, as he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara.
“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off,” Trump told reporters alongside Erdogan. The US sanctioned Turkey during the first Trump administration under the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
When asked about the F-35 sale, Trump said, “It’s a decision we’re going to make,” and went on to praise Turkey. “We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal, so, yeah, it’s something certainly we would consider,” he said.
While Trump has been critical of other NATO countries for not backing his war with Iran, he expressed appreciation to Turkey for not entering the conflict on the side of Iran, citing its hostile relationship with Israel. “They could’ve gotten into the fight. They’re a very powerful military nation. They didn’t do that, maybe they didn’t do that because of me, but they could’ve gotten into the fight on the other side,” he said.
The president’s praise for Turkey came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he doesn’t want President Trump to sell F-35s to Ankara, as Israeli officials have identified Turkey as the next potential target in a future war.
“I don’t think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets because that’ll upset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said in an appearance on “Fox & Friends.”
