Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is seeking to convince President Trump to reinstate Turkey into the F-35 program, a request that faces significant legal and political hurdles.
The meeting on Thursday, Erdogan’s first at the White House since 2019, aims to reverse Turkey’s 2019 expulsion from the F-35 joint production and sales program. This action was a direct consequence of Ankara’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, which the U.S. and NATO allies see as a threat to the F-35’s stealth technology.
Erdogan confirmed on Monday that Turkey will negotiate the acquisition of F-35 fighter jets during his meeting with the US President.
The legal and political roadblocks Trump faces for Turkey’s F-35s
As Hellas Journal reports, while the Trump administration imposed sanctions under CAATSA, those alone aren’t the main obstacle. A far greater challenge is Section 1245 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020, which explicitly restricts the transfer of F-35s to Turkey.
This legislation requires a formal, written certification from the U.S. Secretaries of Defense and State that Turkey no longer possesses the S-400 system and has provided credible assurances against future purchases of similar Russian defense equipment.
The NDAA provision is crucial because it doesn’t include a waiver for the President. This means that Trump can’t simply bypass Congress to reinstate Turkey. Any attempt to do so would likely face legal challenges and strong opposition from both the House and the Senate.
The core of the issue remains the Russian S-400 system. Turkey has floated “technical” solutions, such as disabling or locking away the systems, but these proposals don’t offer a credible guarantee that the S-400s could not be reactivated, leaving the security of the F-35 compromised.
Despite some speculation that a Republican-controlled Congress would be more amenable to the sale, there is currently no apparent appetite to amend or repeal the NDAA provisions. This bipartisan opposition in Congress makes a quick resolution highly unlikely.
President Trump is, therefore, constrained by his own prior actions and the legislation he signed into law.
While Erdogan is hopeful for a reversal, the legal framework and strong congressional opposition mean that any path forward would require a dramatic shift in policy or a direct confrontation with Capitol Hill.
Related: ‘Warm’ Trump-Erdogan Ties Make Turkey a Hub of Diplomacy
