The State Department emphasized last week that Turkey must get rid of its S-400 systems in order to rejoin the F-35 program, however Donald Trump does not share that view. The U.S. President made honeyed remarks about Turkey while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, en route to Missouri. Trump appeared to brush aside concerns — including those from Israel — calling Turkey “a very powerful country” and adding: “A tremendous country with very large armed forces — their military has a lot of great equipment.” That, however, was merely the backdrop. When it came to the question of F-35 sales specifically, he made his position clear: “Nobody tells me what we should and shouldn’t sell. Turkey has been a great ally.” Notably, the question had been framed around Benjamin Netanyahu’s well-known objections to the matter, yet Trump seized the opportunity to effectively undercut the red lines that Congress has drawn on the issue as well.
Trump on F-35s for Turkey: “No one tells me what to sell — they’re a great ally”
Trump defies State Department and Congress, calling Turkey “a great ally” and insisting no one dictates what weapons the U.S. can sell.
