Trump Considers Selling F-35’s to Muslim Nation

A formation of military jet fighters flying in a clear blue sky

Trump’s hint that he might sell F-35s to Turkey is not just controversial; it slams straight into hard U.S. law and serious national security red lines.

Story Snapshot

Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program in 2019 over its Russian S-400 missile purchase.
U.S. law now blocks any F-35 transfer to Turkey unless it gets rid of every S-400 system and related personnel.
Trump’s talk of “considering” F-35 sales collides with that law and deep Pentagon concerns about Russian spying on U.S. stealth tech.
Turkey still holds F-35 production gear, raising long-term security worries about sensitive technology in a shaky partner’s hands.

How Turkey Went From Core Partner To Expelled Risk

Turkey did not start as a problem child in the F-35 story. It was invited as an early partner and spent years investing in the jet and building hundreds of parts for it. That changed when Ankara bought Russia’s S-400 air defense system. In July 2019, after the S-400 deliveries began, the White House announced that Turkey’s decision made its continued role in the F-35 program “impossible” and ordered its removal. Pentagon officials began “unwinding” Turkey from the program, sending Turkish personnel home and shifting the supply chain away from Turkish factories.

⚡️🇹🇷🇺🇸 — US President Donald Trump is expected to inform Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO summit in Ankara that he is ready to restore Turkey's access to the F-35 stealth fighter jet program, — According to The New York Times.

➡️The move would reverse a ban…

— MaxOsint Intel (@maxosintintel) July 7, 2026

The core reason was not hurt feelings; it was hard security math. The F-35’s advantage comes from stealth. The S-400 is a high-end radar and missile system designed to find and kill stealth aircraft. U.S. officials warned that running the F-35 near an S-400, with Russian technicians involved, would let Moscow map the jet’s radar signature and weaknesses over time. The White House said plainly the F-35 “cannot coexist” with a Russian intelligence collection platform built to learn its advanced capabilities. For anyone who believes in peace through strength, that is a line you do not cross.

The Legal Wall: Congress Locks The Door

Congress did not just complain; it wrote the red line into law. Section 1245 of the 2020 defense bill says no F-35s go to Turkey unless the president certifies that Turkey has removed every S-400 system and all related Russian personnel from its territory and pledged not to buy similar systems again. A bipartisan group of lawmakers later pressed the State Department to reject Turkey’s bid to rejoin, warning that giving F-35s to a country that still hosts S-400s would expose U.S. military secrets to Russian intelligence. Those are not fringe voices; they reflect a broad conservative instinct that you do not hand your crown jewels to anyone cozy with Moscow.

So far, Turkey has not met a single one of those legal conditions. The S-400 batteries still sit on Turkish soil. Reports show they have not been fully activated, but “not turned on yet” is very different from “gone and never coming back”. On top of that, a 2025 report says Turkish industry still retains F-35 production equipment five years after expulsion, prompting concern that advanced tooling and design know-how remain in a country now outside the trust circle. From a common sense view, that is like kicking someone out of a vault but letting them keep some of the keys.

Trump’s Signals Collide With Security And Common Sense

Trump has long called the situation “not fair” to Turkey and to the United States, noting the lost business for American companies and jobs tied to F-35 sales. He now says he will “consider” selling F-35s to Turkey in his new term, and his ambassador in Ankara bragged about “fruitful” talks and a fresh atmosphere with President Erdogan. At one point, Trump even floated the idea of selling the six F-35s already built for Turkey and kept in storage since 2019, under some form of conditions.

Here is the clash: talk from the White House podium does not erase black-and-white law or the realities of Russian spying. For Trump to move F-35s, he would need Congress to change the statute or to accept a claim that Turkey has truly removed the S-400s. So far, lawmakers in both parties show little interest in backing down. That reflects a basic conservative value: you stand by your allies, but you do not bend rules that protect your own troops and technology for a leader who keeps playing footsie with Moscow.

Turkey’s Lobbying And The Trust Problem

President Erdogan calls the expulsion “unfair” and argues that Turkey deserves readmission as a longtime North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally. Turkish media and officials frame their bid as a fight for dignity and balance inside the alliance, pointing to their bases and troops that support NATO missions. There are even reports that Ankara is exploring options to offload or return the S-400s, hinting at a possible way past the legal barrier if that ever becomes real and verifiable.

Trump, in Ankara: "We don't want to sanction friends." He says he will remove the CAATSA sanctions on Turkey.

CAATSA, the sanctions regime imposed in 2020 alongside Turkey's F-35 expulsion, is the actual legal mechanism blocking both the F-35 readmission and the broader defense…

— The Tectonic (@thetect0nic) July 7, 2026

The trouble is trust. Turkey bought the S-400 despite years of clear U.S. warnings and a Senate vote in 2018 blocking F-35 transfers over that exact risk. It has kept the systems on its soil, kept key F-35 tooling, and swung between courting Russia and demanding the best American hardware. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that F-35s in Turkish hands could upset the regional balance, given Erdogan’s harsh rhetoric toward Israel and tight posture against Western policy. To many in the U.S., especially on the right, that looks less like a loyal ally and more like a fence-sitter who wants the benefits of both sides.