Trump’s Biggest Roadblock to Selling Jets to Turkey May Be Republican Lawmakers

Congress is already pushing back on President Donald Trump’s plans to lift sanctions on Turkey and potentially sell the country F-35 fighter jets.

Lawmakers from both parties warned Tuesday that Turkey’s possession of the S-400 Russian air defense system still poses the security concerns that prompted Congress to restrict F-35 transfers so long as Turkey possesses the system.

The opposition is also being fueled by past clashes between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government and countries that have diaspora communities in the U.S. — and allies on Capitol Hill — including Israel, Greece, Cyprus and Armenia.

“If used in proximity to the F-35,” Turkey’s S-400 “could reveal to Russia how our stealth technology works,” Rep. Brad Sherman (D-California) said in a statement to NOTUS. Lifting the sanctions “would be tantamount to handing [Russian President Vladimir] Putin the blueprints to our technology.”

Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, a member of the House Republican Israel Caucus, said the F-35 transfer ban must remain in force so long as Ankara retains the S-400.

“Selling one of America’s most advanced fighter jets to Turkey is not in the best interest of the United States,” Lawler said in a statement to NOTUS. “It risks compromising critical technology and sends the wrong message to our allies in Europe and the Middle East.”

Lawler had already released a bipartisan letter last week with five other Republicans opposing Turkey’s return to the program.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York) likewise urged the administration to abandon any potential sale, citing Erdogan’s ties to Russia and Iran, support for Hamas, disputes with neighbors and treatment of political opponents and journalists.

“Providing Turkey with our most advanced fighter jet would jeopardize U.S. national security, risk sensitive technology falling into the wrong hands, and endanger our allies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East,” she said in a statement to NOTUS.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) publicly highlighted the legal limits on a transfer and posted on social media in response to initial reports: “I hope this is wrong.”

Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho) has long pledged to fight any F-35 sale to Turkey if the S-400 issue isn’t resolved. On Tuesday, he said he was hopeful that “Turkey will finally agree to end their possession of the S-400s and put this issue behind us.”

Even Republicans open to the sale acknowledged the political obstacles created by Turkey’s regional conflicts.

“There may be some pushback in Congress, to be honest with you,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina), a Trump ally, told reporters in Ankara on Tuesday. “Turkey’s relationship with Israel is probably not really helpful in Congress.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the case himself on CNN after Trump’s remarks, warning that selling the F-35 to Turkey would upset the balance of power in the Middle East. He accused Erdogan’s government of supporting Hamas, threatening Greece and Cyprus and directing increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Israel.

“This is not a force for peace and stability,” Netanyahu said. “When you give him that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake.”

The United States removed Turkey from the F-35 program in 2019 after Ankara purchased the S-400, arguing that operating the Russian system could expose sensitive information about the stealthy American aircraft. The following year, the Trump administration imposed sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, against Turkey’s main defense procurement agency because of the same transaction.

Congress also restricted transfers of F-35s to Turkey. The law allows the ban to be waived if the secretaries of defense and state jointly certify to Congress that Turkey no longer possesses the S-400, has given credible assurances that it will not acquire the system again, and has not since 2019 bought other Russian defense equipment that could compromise the F-35. The administration must then wait 90 days before the waiver can take effect.

Trump, sitting alongside Erdogan at the NATO Summit in Ankara on Tuesday, did not mention those concerns. Asked whether he would sell F-35s to Turkey, Trump said he saw little reason not to consider it — tossing in a dig at other NATO allies.

“Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal,” Trump said. “So it’s something we certainly would consider.”

When pressed about Turkey’s possession of the S-400 system, Trump was dismissive.

“I have no concerns about anything having to do with Turkey’s relationship,” he said.

Sanctions would be waived, he said. “We don’t want to sanction friends,” he added.

A new letter to chamber leadership from 18 House Democrats called for a resolution of disapproval under CAATSA if the administration moves to waive or circumvent sanctions without a legal basis to readmit Turkey to the F-35 program.

The letter, led by Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada), a member of the Hellenic Caucus and the Hellenic-Israel Alliance Caucus — cited Turkey’s “aggressive posture toward Greece and Cyprus” and its “material support to Azerbaijan in its military campaigns against Armenia.”

In an interview with NOTUS, Titus said lawmakers fear Trump will simply disregard the law.

“There’s concern that he does whatever he wants to in any area, not just this, and tends to ignore Congress,” she said.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement to NOTUS, “The law is clear: Turkey cannot receive the F-35, and CAATSA sanctions should not be lifted while it continues to possess Russia’s S-400 air defense system.”

Ahead of the summit, Meeks’ Republican counterpart on the panel also expressed resistance.

“That’s a matter of law,” Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida), the House Foreign Affairs chair and a Trump ally, told NOTUS. “Turkey is problematic on a number of fronts. Their actions in Syria and other places are much bigger pieces of the conversation that need to be addressed.”