Trump-Erdogan Meeting Signals Thaw, Possible F-35 Sales to Turkey

President Donald Trump hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, in a high-stakes meeting that signaled a thaw in U.S.-Turkey relations and raised the prospect that Washington could soon lift restrictions on sales of advanced fighter jets to Ankara. The visit, Erdogan's first White House trip since 2019, focused on defense sales, energy imports from Russia and efforts to broker ceasefires in regional conflicts.

Speaking alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office, Trump said the two countries were "working on many Trade and Military Deals" and suggested a resolution on F-35 sales was possible. "He needs certain things, and we need certain things, and we're going to come to a conclusion," the president said, adding that a deal could be reached "by the end of the day." Trump also told reporters that sanctions imposed over Turkey's 2019 purchase of Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system could be lifted "almost immediately" if the meeting went well.

U.S. officials removed Turkey from the F-35 program after concerns that integration of the S-400 could expose the jet's vulnerabilities to Russian intelligence. Turkish officials have said Ankara has...