President Trump welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House Thursday as he considers lifting a ban on the sale of U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
When asked if he would let Turkey buy F-35s as Mr. Erdogan was arriving, Mr. Trump replied, “You’ll find out.”
The two leaders spoke at the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week. They had last met in 2019 during Mr. Trump’s first term to discuss Kurdish forces in Syria and Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 air defense missile systems.
Meanwhile, the U.S. kicked Turkey out of the F-35 fighter jet program while imposing sanctions over the NATO ally’s offensive against Kurdish forces in Syria.
Mr. Trump said last week that Turkey’s F-35 ban could come to an end and that the two leaders “have always had a very good relationship.”
“We are working on many Trade and Military Deals with the President, including the large-scale purchase of Boeing aircraft, a major F-16 Deal, and a continuation of the F-35 talks, which we expect to conclude positively,” Mr. Trump said in a social media post.
The Turkish president has signaled he’s eager to return to the F-35 program, telling Fox News, “I think the F-35s will be delivered to Turkey step-by-step during his term.”
He added, “On industry and technology, Turkey and the United States will improve their relations. I will talk about all these things with Mr. Trump, and it will be a different return to Turkey after that.”
There are also deals in the works for Turkey to purchase hundreds of Boeing aircraft.
Thursday’s meeting was being celebrated as a success in Turkey, even before it started.
Mr. Erdogan said last week that he thinks the meeting with Mr. Trump “will contribute to the cessation of wars and conflicts in our region within the framework of our common global peace vision and will further strengthen the cooperation between our countries.”
Despite that, he has separated himself from American policy, criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s action in Gaza.
“This is completely a genocide. And this genocide is caused by Netanyahu. Netanyahu mercilessly has, unfortunately, killed tens of thousands with this genocide,” Mr. Erdogan said in his Fox News interview.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.