Trump signals progress on F-35 deal with Turkey

Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

US President Donald Trump has praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "a friend" and signalled potential progress on Turkey's long-running bid to acquire F-35 fighter aircraft, while Vice President J.D. Vance said the administration was reviewing whether Ankara had met all legal requirements.

Speaking alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the White House on Wednesday (local time), Trump repeatedly commended Erdogan's role during the recent conflict with Iran and confirmed he would attend next month's NATO summit in Ankara largely out of respect for the Turkish leader.

"He's a friend of mine, and he stayed out of the war," Trump said. The President said he had personally urged Erdogan not to become involved in the conflict. "He was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran, maybe on the Iran side, because he's not a big fan of Israel, as you know. And I asked him to stay out; he stayed out."

Trump also said he had made similar requests to other world leaders. "You know who else was great? President Xi of China... I asked him to please stay out, and he did." Referring to Erdogan, Trump added: "He loves Turkey... and he's doing a great job. He's a respected man, a respected leader, and he's been a friend of mine."

Asked whether he would arrive in Ankara with "a big gift bag" for Erdogan, including approval for Turkey's request for F-110 jet engines and F-35 fighter aircraft, Trump replied: "Yeah, I think so." "He's a member of NATO. Some people don't consider him so, but he really is. He's a strong member of NATO. Yeah, I'm going to probably do something that's going to make him very happy."

Trump then invited Vice President J.D. Vance to answer a question on the F-35 programme. "We're running the traps and confirming that's happened," Vance said. "This is really a congressional thing, and ensuring that Turkey has complied with American law so they can get the F-35s."

He said the administration would make an announcement once the review was complete. Trump defended Erdogan's record, saying the Turkish leader had been helpful to Washington on several occasions. "A lot of times when they have a problem with Erdogan, they call me, and they say, 'Would you talk to him?'"

The President also indicated that Erdogan's role as host of the NATO summit had influenced his decision to attend. "If not for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdogan, I don't think I would have gone to it," Trump said. Rutte echoed Trump's remarks, describing Turkey as an important contributor to the alliance.

"Turkey has a huge defence industrial base, 3,000 companies working all over the alliance, also here in the United States," the NATO Secretary General said. Trump added that Turkey possessed "a very strong military" and noted that it already operated significant quantities of American military equipment. "People don't know how big Turkey is in terms of the military," he said.

The NATO summit in Ankara on July 7-8 is expected to focus on implementing the alliance's new defence spending commitments, expanding defence industrial production and coordinating continued support for Ukraine. Turkey, NATO's second-largest military after the United States, occupies a strategically important position linking Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea region.

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