U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to tell Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he is prepared to support Turkey’s return to the F-35 stealth fighter program, according to a report published Monday by The New York Times, a move that would represent the most significant shift in U.S.-Turkish defense relations since Ankara was removed from the project nearly seven years ago.
The reported policy change comes as Trump travels to Ankara for the NATO summit, where he is expected to hold bilateral talks with Erdogan before alliance leaders begin two days of discussions focused on defense spending, military industrial capacity and the security challenges posed by Russia’s continuing war against Ukraine.
According to The New York Times, which cited four senior administration officials familiar with the matter, Trump intends to tell Erdogan that he is willing to work toward restoring Turkey’s participation in the fifth-generation fighter program despite existing congressional restrictions. The officials reportedly differed over how the administration could overcome the legal and political barriers, but said one option under discussion involves an exchange of formal letters between the two leaders outlining a path forward.
The White House did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the report, leaving unanswered questions about whether any formal proposal would be announced during the summit or remain part of broader diplomatic discussions between Washington and Ankara.
The prospect of Turkey’s return to the F-35 program marks a dramatic reversal from the position adopted by the United States after Ankara purchased the Russian-made S-400 air defense system in 2019, a decision that triggered one of the deepest crises in bilateral relations between the NATO allies in recent decades.
Washington argued that operating the S-400 alongside the F-35 would expose sensitive information about the aircraft’s stealth capabilities to Russia, creating unacceptable security risks for both the United States and other allied operators of the advanced fighter.
In response, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act and formally removed Ankara from the multinational F-35 program despite the country’s role as both a development partner and manufacturing contributor. Turkish defense companies had produced hundreds of components for the aircraft before their participation was gradually phased out.
Congress subsequently reinforced that position by passing legislation prohibiting the sale of F-35 aircraft to Turkey for as long as the country retained the Russian air defense system. Lawmakers from both major political parties argued that the presence of the S-400 remained fundamentally incompatible with the security requirements of the world’s most advanced multirole combat aircraft.
Since then, the dispute has remained one of the principal obstacles preventing a broader improvement in relations between Washington and Ankara, even as Trump has maintained a comparatively warmer personal relationship with Erdogan than many previous U.S. administrations.
Despite continuing disagreements over the S-400 issue, recent months have seen signs of renewed defense cooperation between the two countries.
Last month, the Trump administration formally notified Congress of its intention to approve the sale of dozens of aircraft engines to Turkey in a deal valued at more than $700 million, according to a copy of the congressional notification reviewed by Reuters. The proposed transaction was widely interpreted by defense analysts as an indication that Washington was seeking to rebuild military ties with one of NATO’s largest armed forces after years of strained cooperation.
If discussions on the F-35 program advance during the NATO summit, they could become one of the most consequential outcomes of Trump’s visit to Ankara. Any effort to restore Turkey’s participation, however, is expected to face significant legal and political hurdles, particularly because congressional restrictions linked to the S-400 remain in force.
Administration officials quoted by The New York Times acknowledged that the White House has not yet settled on a mechanism for navigating those restrictions. While an exchange of letters between Trump and Erdogan could establish a political framework for future negotiations, any permanent resolution would likely require addressing concerns that have long united both Congress and the U.S. defense establishment.
For Turkey, regaining access to the F-35 program has remained a strategic objective since its removal in 2019. Ankara has repeatedly argued that it was unfairly excluded after investing heavily in the multinational project and has maintained that its acquisition of the S-400 was driven by national defense requirements rather than an effort to undermine NATO security.
The issue has also carried broader implications for the alliance. Turkey possesses NATO’s second-largest military and occupies a strategically important position controlling access between Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea. As the alliance seeks to strengthen its collective defense posture amid Russia’s continued military campaign in Ukraine, closer cooperation with Ankara has assumed greater importance.
Any breakthrough on the F-35 dispute would therefore extend beyond bilateral relations, signaling a broader effort by Washington to reinforce unity within NATO at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Whether that objective can be achieved without resolving the underlying dispute over Turkey’s Russian-made air defense system remains one of the central questions surrounding Trump’s meetings with Erdogan in Ankara.
