Trump Announces US Will Lift Sanctions on Turkey – F-35 Jet Sale Back On Table?

Trump says the F-35 fighter jets sale to Turkey is under consideration.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US will lift sanctions on Turkiye that were issued after Ankara purchased a Russian missile defence system that led to the country being kicked out of the F-35 fighter jet program.

“We’re going to be taking the sanctions off, OK?” Trump said in response to a question during a meeting with Erdogan at the presidential palace in Ankara. He said Cabinet officials were working on the matter.

There are still a number of legal hurdles before Turkiye could be fully admitted back to the US program, but the removal of 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, a top goal of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and one that Trump predicted will happen eventually.

Earlier, he said that the possibility of selling the F-35s to Turkiye is “certainly something we will consider.”