Trump Considers Reversing One Of His Own First-Term Foreign Policy Decisions

President Donald Trump said Tuesday at the NATO summit in Ankara that he is considering allowing Turkey to purchase American-made F-35 stealth fighter jets, a move that would reverse a ban imposed during his first administration after Ankara acquired a Russian missile defense system.

“We have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey’s been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,” Trump said of the NATO ally. “So, it’s something, certainly, we would consider. It’s a great plane, it’s the best, currently the best plane by far, and it’s certainly something we will consider.”

The comments mark a dramatic shift after Trump’s own first administration removed Turkey from the multinational F-35 program in 2019 over Ankara’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system. U.S. officials warned at the time that operating the Russian system alongside the stealth fighter could expose sensitive information about the aircraft’s capabilities to Moscow.

Trump also said his administration is working to lift sanctions imposed during his first term over Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 system.

“I can tell you we’re going to take the sanctions off,” Trump said. “It’s time.”

In 2020, Congress passed a law prohibiting the transfer of F-35 aircraft to Turkey unless the administration certifies that Turkey no longer possesses the S-400 system.

That same year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries and several senior officials.

Then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Turkey’s decision endangered U.S. military technology, provided substantial funds to Russia’s defense sector, and ultimately led to Turkey’s removal from the F-35 partnership. The White House similarly argued in a July 2019 statement that the F-35 “cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities.”

Under the second Trump administration, U.S. and Turkish officials have spent months exploring ways to satisfy legal requirements while allowing Ankara to return to the program. According to reports, one proposal would involve transferring the S-400 systems to a third party, while other options include partially dismantling the system or relocating it to a U.S.-controlled facility in Turkey. 

Although some of the missile systems reportedly remain in their original shipping containers, no final agreement has been reached, according to The New York Times.

The issue has been under active review inside the Trump administration. During an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte last month, Trump suggested he hoped to deliver Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a “gift” that would make him “very happy.” Vice President JD Vance later said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was reviewing whether legal conditions required under U.S. law could be met before any sale proceeds. Trump added, “We will work it out.”

Congressional restrictions remain in place. Under the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, the Defense Department is prohibited from transferring F-35s to Turkey while the country possesses the S-400 system. Six Turkish-owned F-35 aircraft remain in storage in the United States, while approximately $1.7 billion that Turkey had previously paid for the program has not been returned, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

During Erdogan’s White House visit last year — his first in roughly six years — Trump suggested he would consider lifting sanctions and allowing Turkey to reenter the F-35 program if Ankara stopped purchasing Russian oil.

“I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Trump said.

According to Reuters, Turkey later sought to reduce its reliance on Russian energy by pursuing additional oil imports from Iraq, Kazakhstan, and other suppliers in late 2025.

Trump’s comments came during his visit to Ankara for the NATO summit, which he said he nearly skipped because of his frustrations with the alliance.

“I was very disappointed with NATO,” Trump said. “Frankly, if it weren’t held in Turkey, where my friend happens to be a very strong leader, a very strong person, it’s possible that I wouldn’t have attended.”

Trump again criticized European allies for what he said was an unequal burden-sharing arrangement, arguing the United States has spent “hundreds of billions of dollars” defending allies that have not reciprocated U.S. support — especially during the recent conflict with Iran. 

At last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, most alliance members agreed to a new goal of spending 5% of GDP on defense and defense-related needs by 2035. Under the plan, at least 3.5% would go toward core military capabilities, while up to 1.5% could be spent on defense-related infrastructure, cybersecurity, resilience, and industrial capacity. 

The prospect of restoring Turkey’s access to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 has also alarmed Israel. In addition to Ankara’s increasingly hostile rhetoric toward the Jewish state, Erdogan has long backed the Muslim Brotherhood and provided refuge to many of its leaders after the group was ousted from power in Egypt.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he has repeatedly urged Trump not to move forward with the sale, warned that Erdogan “is not exactly a model ally of the United States” and argued the aircraft would upset the regional military balance.

“This is not a force for peace and stability,” Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. “When you give them that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake.”