Congress had written the law carefully. There were legal obstacles.
Seven years after Washington severed Turkey from the F-35 stealth fighter program over Ankara's purchase of a Russian air defense system, Donald Trump arrived at a NATO summit in Ankara prepared to offer Erdogan a path back in. The gesture carries the weight of a relationship long strained by competing loyalties — to alliance solidarity on one side, and to sovereign arms choices on the other. Whether this opening becomes policy depends not only on two leaders shaking hands, but on whether the architecture of American law can be quietly rearranged around them.
- A seven-year wound in U.S.-Turkey relations is being reopened for repair, with Trump signaling he will personally offer Erdogan restoration of F-35 access at their Ankara meeting.
- The original exclusion was no diplomatic formality — Congress passed a law explicitly prohibiting F-35 sales to Turkey as long as it holds the Russian S-400 system, citing direct threats to the aircraft's classified technology.
- Trump's own senior officials are divided on how to make this work legally, with one possibility being an exchange of letters between the two presidents to construct some kind of workaround framework.
- The administration has already begun warming the relationship, notifying Congress of a $700 million jet engine sale to Turkey — the F-35 signal appears to be the next, far more consequential step.
- Congressional opposition remains a structural obstacle, and the security concerns that originally drove the exclusion have not been publicly resolved, leaving the initiative suspended between political will and legal reality.
Donald Trump traveled to Ankara for a NATO summit carrying an offer that Turkey had been waiting years to receive: a signal that its exclusion from the F-35 stealth fighter program might finally be reversed. Four senior administration officials confirmed to the New York Times that Trump planned to tell Erdogan, when they met Tuesday evening, that he was prepared to undo the ban.
The exclusion dated to 2019, when Turkey purchased Russia's S-400 air defense system. Washington argued the S-400 posed a direct threat to the F-35's classified systems, and responded with sanctions and removal from the program. Congress reinforced the decision by passing a law making any F-35 sale to Turkey illegal for as long as it retained the S-400. The restriction was deliberate and binding.
For years the issue became a symbol of deeper mistrust between two NATO allies — a concrete reminder that Washington did not fully trust Ankara. Even as the two governments began warming under Trump, with the administration recently notifying Congress of a $700 million jet engine sale, the F-35 question remained an open sore.
Now Trump appeared ready to move. His officials acknowledged disagreement over the legal mechanics, but floated the possibility of an exchange of letters between the two presidents as a potential framework. The White House declined to comment. What was unmistakable was the direction of travel — and the fact that the NATO summit would be where this new chapter, however unresolved in its details, would begin.
Donald Trump was heading to Ankara for a NATO summit when word came that he intended to offer Turkey something the country had lost seven years earlier: access to the F-35 stealth fighter program. Four senior officials in his administration confirmed to the New York Times that the president planned to tell Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when they met on Tuesday evening, that he was prepared to reverse the exclusion. It was a striking reversal for a relationship that had grown genuinely cold.
The rupture had begun in 2019, when Turkey purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system. The United States saw this as a fundamental security problem—the S-400, officials argued, posed a direct threat to the F-35 itself, potentially compromising the aircraft's classified systems. Washington responded with sanctions and simply removed Turkey from the program. Congress went further, passing a law that made any F-35 sale to Turkey illegal as long as the country kept the S-400. The restriction was blunt and binding.
For years, the issue festered. Turkey and the United States remained NATO allies, but this particular wound never quite healed. The F-35 exclusion became a symbol of the broader mistrust, a concrete reminder that Washington did not fully trust Ankara. Even as Trump took office and the two countries began warming to each other—the administration had just notified Congress of its intention to sell Turkey jet engines worth more than $700 million—the F-35 question remained unresolved.
Now Trump appeared ready to tackle it directly. The officials who spoke to the Times acknowledged they disagreed on the mechanics of how he would actually make this work. Congress had written the law carefully. There were legal obstacles. But the officials suggested one possibility: an exchange of letters between Trump and Erdogan that might create some kind of framework or understanding. The details remained murky. The White House declined to comment when asked about the report.
What was clear was the signal being sent. Turkey had been waiting for this opening, and Trump seemed willing to provide it. The move would require navigating around congressional restrictions that had been put in place with genuine security concerns in mind. Whether those concerns had changed, or whether Trump simply saw the political benefit of closer ties with Turkey, remained an open question. The NATO summit would be the stage where this new direction became public, and where the real work of figuring out how to make it happen would begin.
Citações Notáveis
The officials differed on the details of how Trump would seek to work around congressional and legal restrictions— Senior administration officials, per New York Times reporting
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does Trump want to do this now? What's changed since 2019?
The relationship has warmed considerably under his administration. Turkey matters strategically—it's at the crossroads between Europe and the Middle East, it controls the straits, it's a NATO member. Closer ties serve his interests.
But Congress passed a law. Can he just undo that?
That's the puzzle everyone's trying to solve. The officials admitted they disagreed on the mechanics. A letter exchange might create some kind of workaround, but it's legally murky.
What about the S-400? Doesn't that still pose the security risk they said it did?
That's the unspoken question. Either the risk assessment has changed, or it's being deprioritized in favor of geopolitical alignment. The source material doesn't say.
How does Congress react to this?
That's what comes next. They'll have to either accept it or fight it. The law they passed was explicit, so there's real friction ahead.
Is Turkey actually going to give up the S-400?
The reporting doesn't address that. It's possible the whole arrangement assumes Turkey keeps it.