WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the F-35 and F-16 fighter jets, as well as the American-made Patriot missile defense system, during their private meeting Thursday at the White House.
Erdogan has long sought F-35s, and as Breitbart News’s John Hayward noted, Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 missile defense system is the central reason it does not possess any F-35s, as the fighter jet is one of the top potential targets for the Russian-developed missiles.
During the Obama administration, Erdogan sought to purchase Patriot missiles, but a deal never materialized due to worries within the Obama White House about providing the technology to Turkey. This led Turkey to purchase the S-400, which was first delivered in July 2019. In response, the Trump administration expelled Turkey from the F-35 program.
Ahead of their private lunch, Trump and Erdoğan met with reporters in the Oval Office.
“We’re going to be discussing the Patriot system, which is the best system,” Trump said in response to one reporter who was critical of the Obama administration’s refusal to sell Patriot missiles to Turkey. “We’ll discuss that. We’re going to discuss the F-35. We’ll be discussing all of the things that you know about, and… some of that you mentioned.”
“And I think he’ll be successful with buying the things he’d like to buy,” Trump added.
Trump said they would talk “very seriously” about the F-35 deal, which is currently on pause, while adding that “we’re in great shape” regarding F-16s.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) stated in July that he would continue to hold up the delivery of completed Lockheed Martin F-35s from the United States to Turkey “for a lot of different reasons.”
In August 40 lawmakers signed a letter calling on the Trump administration to deny Turkey reentry to the F-35 program and pointing to Turkey’s Russian-made S-400 air defense system as “a direct threat to U.S. aircraft.”
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