President Donald Trump claimed he was weighing selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey during a bilateral press conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.
“It’s a decision we are going to make,” Trump said during the first full day of the NATO summit. “Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal.”
Trump also said that it was “something certainly we consider.”
The president’s comments come despite a congressional ban on selling F-35 jets to Turkey due to Ankara’s acceptance of the Russian S-400 air and missile defense system. But he did not comment on the ban, which was instituted during his first administration, during his remarks. It is unclear how the president would circumvent Congress to sell Turkey the jets.
“It’s the best, currently the best plane by far, and certainly something we will consider,” Trump also said.
Erdogan appeared to claim that Trump had already promised him the jets during his comments.
“I believe that President Trump also has made a promise on this separately,” said Erdogan. “And during the meeting of the leaders’ summit, we do hope that the promise that we have previously received is going to be productively tested towards the future, and President Trump has always been a man of his word, and hopefully with respect to the F-35.”
TRUMP HEADS TO NATO SUMMIT WEIGHING PENALTIES ON ALLIES NOT MEETING DEFENSE SPENDING DUES
Trump has already faced resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the jets, which he claimed would further disturb Middle Eastern tensions.
“I don’t think they should be given F-35s or the engines for their fighter jets,” Netanyahu said on Fox News on Monday.