WASHINGTON ( WNAM MONITORING): US President Donald Trump said he is likely to take a step that would make Türkiye “very happy” when asked about Ankara’s request for F-35 fighter jets and jet engines.
Asked whether he was going to Türkiye “with a big gift bag,” Trump pointed to Türkiye’s NATO membership.
“Look, he’s a member of NATO. Some people don’t consider himself (a NATO member), but he really is. He’s a strong member of NATO,” Trump said during his meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the White House.
“Yeah, I’m going to probably do something that’s going to make him very happy,” he added.
Türkiye is getting ready to hos NATO leaders at a summit in the capital Ankara on July 7-8.
Rutte, for his part, said Türkiye has a “huge” defense industrial base.
Trump replied: “People don’t know how big Türkiye is in terms of the military. It’s very strong. They have a lot of our equipment, a very strong military, because of him.”
The US president said that if the summit was not taking place in Türkiye and being hosted by Erdogan, “I don’t think I would have gone to it.”
“I’m going out of respect to President Erdogan,” Trump said.
In 2019, under the first term of Trump, the US suspended Türkiye from the F-35 program after objecting to its buying a Russian S-400 missile defense system, claiming the Russian system would endanger the fighter jets.
Türkiye has said repeatedly that there is no conflict between the two and proposed a commission to study the issue. Türkiye also said it fulfilled its obligations on the F-35s and that its suspension broke the rules.
Ankara maintains that the fighter jets would strengthen not only Türkiye, but also NATO.
When Trump was asked what needed to occur for the F-35 deal to be finalized, the president referred the question to Vice President JD Vance, who said officials including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were reviewing the issue “right now.”
“There are certain things that we have to certify have happened — that have happened in order to comply with American law. The president has asked us to do that. We’re running the traps and confirming that’s happened.
“This is really a congressional thing, and ensuring that Türkiye has complied with American law so they can get the F-35s. We will announce that when the review is complete,” Vance said.
