According to a report published by the New York Times in the early hours of Tuesday — just moments before Donald Trump departed for Ankara ahead of the NATO Summit — the U.S. president is expected to tell Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that he is willing to reinstate Turkey into the program that would allow it to purchase F-35 fighter jets.
“Four senior U.S. government officials described the forthcoming policy shift, following weeks of behind-the-scenes consultations among national security officials aimed at breaking the deadlock. While there were differences over the details of how Trump intends to navigate the legal and congressional restrictions, all agreed that he is expected to at least signal his intention to secure the delivery of F-35s to Turkey — though it remains unclear when this would happen,” the NYT writes.
However, as the Times notes — against the backdrop of Trump’s remarks that he is preparing a “gift” that will make Erdoğan “very happy” — the American president’s effort may face pushback in Congress, which could attempt to block it.
“Everything is still open regarding what Trump will do, but an exchange of letters over the F-35s may be in the works”
Also noting that it remains unknown exactly what Trump will say, the New York Times adds that “officials pointed out that he could still change his mind, as he is unpredictable even to his own aides. Nevertheless, government sources suggested there may be an exchange of letters between the two leaders to formally initiate the process.”
The American newspaper recalls that “in 2019, during Trump’s first term in the White House, Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program after it purchased Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. Washington feared at the time that Turkey could use the S-400s to collect data on the F-35’s characteristics, and that Russia would gain valuable intelligence about the aircraft’s stealth and missile-evasion capabilities.”
“Erdoğan is nevertheless among the powerful leaders Trump says he admires most. Recently, Vice President JD Vance revealed that Trump had instructed his aides to find a way for the Turkish president to obtain the fighter jets he has been pursuing for years. To make that happen, however, a law passed by Congress in 2020 — which prohibits the sale of F-35s to Turkey unless the U.S. government certifies that Ankara no longer possesses the Russian S-400 systems — would need to be overcome,” the NYT report continues.
An official who was actively involved in the negotiations told the Times that “one possible way to resolve the issue is to transfer the S-400s — many of which remain in their original shipping crates — to a third country,” while a second official said “the exact mechanism has not yet been determined.”
As the NYT recalls, “four years ago, the possibility of transferring the missiles to Ukraine for use against Russian attacks was considered, but that plan was abandoned. Today, it is considered unlikely that either Trump or Erdoğan would agree to sell them to Ukraine. One of the alternatives being explored is rendering the systems inoperable by removing critical components.”
What the White House said in 2019
In 2019, the White House explained the reasons for removing Turkey from the program — a decision that ultimately cost the United States approximately $500 million. “The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence-collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities,” the White House statement read at the time. “Turkey has been a trusted partner and NATO Ally for more than 65 years, but acceptance of the S-400 undermines the commitment of all Allies to move away from Russian weapons systems.”
Despite this, the New York Times writes, Trump never felt comfortable with that decision and frequently blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama. Since returning to the White House, he has repeatedly expressed — both publicly and privately — his intention to reverse it.
The matter is not straightforward, however, the NYT reminds readers, recalling that U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in June 2025 that the F-35 dispute with Turkey would be resolved by the end of the year, suggesting that Congress would back the decision. “That did not happen, and Trump now faces the prospect that the current — or even the next — Congress may not agree. Some Republicans, including Senator Jim Risch of Idaho, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, remain particularly skeptical,” the American newspaper notes.
In this context, it is also worth noting that among the long-standing critics of selling F-35s to Turkey is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Fox on Monday that Turkey “is governed by a man who openly calls for the annihilation of Israel. He occupies half of Cyprus, which is a European Union member state, threatens Greece, also a NATO ally, and openly speaks of conquering Jerusalem.”
