Watch: Trump says in his meeting with Erdogan that the United States will lift sanctions on Türkiye, and will consider selling F-35 aircraft

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the United States will lift sanctions on Turkey that were imposed after Ankara’s purchase of a Russian missile defense system led to the country’s expulsion from the F-35 fighter jet program.

Watch Trump’s meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the video player above.

A number of legal hurdles remain before Turkey can be allowed to fully return to the US program, but removing the sanctions – issued under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act – would help ease the process for Ankara to regain access to the F-35s, which is the ultimate goal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and which Trump has expected to achieve for some time.

Read more: The NATO Secretary General calls on allies to submit credible plans to reach defense spending targets

“We’ll lift the sanctions, okay?” Trump said in response to a question during his meeting with Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara. He added that Cabinet officials are working on this matter. Earlier in the meeting, he said the possibility of selling F-35s to Turkey was “something we will certainly consider.”

Trump and Erdogan repeatedly stressed their warm relationship when they met shortly after the US president arrived in Ankara to attend the NATO summit. Erdogan received the US President with an elaborate welcome ceremony that included cannons, military officials on horseback, and planes flying overhead, emitting red, white, and blue smoke.

“Sometimes you get along with the toughest people, like him,” Trump said, pointing at Erdogan. The US President repeatedly praised Turkey for its loyalty to the United States, especially during the war in Iran.

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Trump, who often disrupts NATO meetings with complaints that European allies are not spending enough on defense, said he would not have attended this year’s summit without his close ties with Erdogan.

‘A very proud moment’

Earlier in the day, NATO showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars – an investment that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte described as “money well spent.”

Rutte was speaking enthusiastically to government ministers and defense industry officials at a forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal”, set to techno music and a stunning video.

NATO as an organization does not have any weapons – they are the property of its 32 member states – but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance aircraft that are around 50 years old, along with some newer surveillance drones.

Read more: Trump secured spending promises from NATO allies last year. This week, he will try to impose it

A deal to replace the old planes was announced on Tuesday. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that the Swedish company Saab will supply up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft to a consortium of 10 countries.

“It is a moment of great pride,” he said, noting that the twin-engine plane “will be manufactured within the coalition for all coalition members.”

Some projects will be financed with money from the European Union’s system of cheap loans for defense purposes, which includes up to $170 billion raised from capital markets.

“We need to make sure that we translate our economic strength into military capabilities, and use money from defense plans to drones, and from money to missiles and interceptors,” Rutte said.

Trump has described NATO as a “paper tiger” that would cease to function without American weapons and leadership. At the forum held on Tuesday, Michael Duffy, US Undersecretary of Defense, said, “The reality is that we need to increase production across the board.”

“We will look to increase our exports to those looking to purchase our equipment, and we will also look to partner in expanding production capacity here in Europe,” he said.

Advertising defense sales

Representatives of 15 countries shook hands and patted each other on the shoulders on a wide platform under the NATO banner as they announced a multinational effort to purchase refueling and airlift planes from Airbus.

Rutte then announced efforts by four countries to purchase up to five new Triton reconnaissance drones to add to NATO’s small fleet.

“It’s truly made in NATO, and it creates jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.

“We will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the critical equipment we need for deterrence and defence,” Rutte told reporters on the eve of the two-day military alliance summit in Türkiye.

However, at Tuesday’s event, no dollar figures were provided and the presentation included some projects that had long been agreed upon.

The boom in the defense industry comes just weeks after Rutte attempted to ease US concerns over NATO military spending with a new presentation using a graph titled “Trump Trillion” – showing spending by European allies and Canada since 2017 at $1.2 trillion.

Trump appeared unaffected, saying he was still disappointed by the refusal of some NATO members to join the Iran war, which he launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

“We don’t need their money, we don’t need anything,” Trump said. “I just want loyalty.”

Controversy over aircraft sales to Turkey

The summit is being held at Erdogan’s sprawling palace complex in Ankara, and Trump suggested that he come bearing gifts for the Turkish leader.

Türkiye was banned from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019 after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. When asked about the fate of Türkiye’s return to the F-35 system, Trump, sitting next to Erdogan, said: “It’s definitely something we’ll look into.

Speaking Monday on the “Fox & Friends” morning show, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the United States not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying Erdogan “openly calls for the annihilation of Israel.”

Relations between Türkiye and Israel are tense. Erdogan often accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, which was sparked by the deadly October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

Netanyahu said that Turkey’s sale of F-35s would “upset the balance of power in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority, as well as, I believe, the American position in the Middle East.”

Türkiye increased security measures and banned protests in Ankara during the summit, but a small group of demonstrators gathered on Tuesday in the capital. The police quickly surrounded them, and a legal association said that 22 students belonging to the left-wing Turkish Workers’ Party and three lawyers were arrested.

Striving for a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO

The Pentagon wants to reboot, and is promoting what it calls “NATO 3.0,” a vision of the alliance in which Europe takes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the United States to focus on other priorities.

But raising defense spending means raising taxes or diverting resources from other priorities. British Defense Secretary John Healey resigned unexpectedly last month, saying the British government was not prepared to spend at a time of increasing threats.

Separately, on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a new appeal to allow his country to join the coalition, saying that its highly experienced and flexible armed forces would only strengthen the coalition’s defense capabilities.

He highlighted Ukraine’s adaptability and ability to strike deep into Russia, hitting oil refineries and other energy targets. He said that the Ukrainian armed forces “eliminate” an average of 30,000 Russian soldiers every month.

“Frankly, we are not proud of it,” Zelensky said, noting that the war with Russia – which has now entered its fifth year – is “a war that we did not seek, but rather a war that we were forced to fight.”

Fears are rising among some northern and central Eastern countries that Russia may be preparing a hybrid attack – a mix of conventional warfare with tactics such as cyberattacks – on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Andy Wilkes in Istanbul contributed to this report.