U.S. President Donald Trump brushed aside reported Israeli opposition to a potential sale of F-35 fighter jets to Türkiye on Monday, praising Ankara as "a tremendous ally" and insisting that no country would dictate U.S. arms sales ahead of his scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Responding to a question about Israel's reported objection to a possible F-35 deal with Türkiye, Trump rejected the notion that outside actors could influence U.S. defense sales.
"Türkiye has been a tremendous ally," Trump said. "Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not selling."
The issue resurfaced after Trump signaled at the recent NATO summit alongside President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Washington was prepared to lift sanctions on Türkiye and was open to selling F-35 fighter jets to Ankara.
The prospect prompted public criticism from Netanyahu, with Axios later reporting that Trump was angered by the remarks, quoting White House officials as saying the U.S. president believed Netanyahu "had no right" to weigh in on American arms sales decisions.
Türkiye was removed from the multinational F-35 program in 2019 after acquiring Russia's S-400 air defense system, prompting U.S. sanctions despite Ankara's role as a production partner in the fighter jet program.
President Erdoğan had previously called Türkiye's removal from the F-35 fighter jet program "unjust," stressing that its reentry is key to NATO security.
Despite boasting NATO's second-largest army, Türkiye often faced arms embargoes in the past. That pushed it to significantly boost domestic capabilities and curb foreign dependence over the last two decades.
Today, it produces a wide range of vehicles and arms types domestically, including its own drones, missiles and naval vessels. It's also developing its own fifth-generation fighter jet.
