Trump's Turkey arms sale proposal sparks congressional questions before NATO summit

The Trump medication is moving guardant with a arguable arms merchantability worthy $700 cardinal to NATO state Turkey contempt apprehension implicit Ankara’s closeness with Russia and violent groups successful the Middle East.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking subordinate of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the medication notified him of the State Department’s determination to bypass Congress and nonstop Turkey the $700 cardinal successful defence articles, mostly combatant jets.

"In this case, the State Department did not adjacent effort to warrant its decision. It did not invoke immoderate exigency authority, did not contiguous a written rationale, and for months refused to marque a good-faith effort to little maine connected implications of the merchantability for the U.S.-Turkey relationship, Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian S-400 system, and different determination information concerns," Rep. Meeks said successful a connection shared with Fox News Digital.

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observes a subject workout successful Izmir, Turkey, connected June 9, 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observed the last time of a large-scale associated subject workout successful Turkey's occidental Izmir state connected Thursday.  (Photo by Xinhua via Getty Images)

Turkey signed a woody with Moscow successful 2017 to acquisition the Russian S-400 aerial defence strategy and acquired it successful 2019, causing alarm wrong the NATO alliance. The U.S. and NATO considered the determination an quality menace that undermines NATO cohesion and readiness.

The S-400 is designed to detect, track, and exploit stealth craft similar the F-35.

"Turkey’s possession of some the S-400 and the F-35 is truthful unsafe due to the fact that the 2 systems operating successful proximity oregon networking unneurotic could springiness Moscow invaluable quality for shooting down F-35s flown by Americans and our allies," according to a study from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The U.S. sanctioned Turkey successful 2019 for the acquisition and excluded Ankara from the F-35 combatant pitchy program. Congress besides passed a instrumentality banning Turkey from the F-35 programme portion it continues to person the S-400 aerial system.

The State Department dismissed concerns astir the U.S. arms income and Turkey’s possession of Russian-made aerial defence systems.

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MUGLA, TURKIYE - JANUARY 12: A subject chopper takes portion successful the property signifier of Turkiye's subject workout Sea Wolf (Denizkurdu) successful Mugla, Turkiye connected January 12, 2024. The exercise, supervised by the Turkish navy, was conducted successful the eastbound Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Sea.  (Orhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"The President has been clear; Türkiye is simply a beardown subordinate of NATO. Türkiye is simply a important contributor to Alliance operations and missions," a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The bundle is simply a large boon for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arsenic helium prepares to big the 2026 NATO acme successful Ankara.

"The US motor merchantability is captious for Turkey’s astir important defence project, the KAAN fifth-generation combatant jet. Turkey is processing its ain engine, but it won’t beryllium acceptable for respective much years. Without U.S.-made GE engines, KAAN would conflict to determination from a prototype to a serially produced combat aircraft," Gonul Tol, elder chap astatine the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

Tol, who’s successful Ankara for the NATO summit, said the woody is much meaningful than conscionable a defence merchantability for President Erdogan, it’s a cornerstone of his overseas argumentation and a large root of home governmental legitimacy.

President Donald Trump greets Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a acme to enactment ending the much than two-year Israel-Hamas warfare successful Gaza aft a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, successful Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.  (Evan Vucci AP Photo/ Pool)

"If the craft succeeds, Ankara believes it volition not lone grow Turkey’s defence exports but besides fortify NATO’s wide concern capableness and reenforce Turkey’s strategical value wrong the alliance," Tol said.

President Erdogan, who has a lukewarm narration and receives predominant praise from President Trump, has continued to aggressively lobby the United States to readmit Turkey to the F-35 program, contempt pushback from Congress.

On Monday, 4 Republican allies of President Trump — Reps. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., and Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY., — released a associated connection implicit the projected sales. "As Greek American Members of Congress, we are profoundly acrophobic regarding reports of a projected subject merchantability of pitchy engines to Turkey. Turkey continues to beryllium a destabilizing unit successful the portion done its expansive and disputed maritime claims, continued amerciable concern of Cyprus, and rhetorical demonization of Israel."

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The connection continued, "The Eastern Mediterranean portion holds important imaginable to go a beacon of commercialized opportunity, vigor cooperation, and determination security, an effort we person actively supported done authorities and engagement, but Turkey’s rhetoric and actions progressively endanger these efforts, cardinal American allies, and determination stability. For example, Turkey's harboring of Hamas and presumption arsenic the lone NATO subordinate to garbage sanctions against Russia is profoundly troubling. We are actively engaging with the Administration and House enactment to get further accusation regarding this reported merchantability and to explicit our beardown absorption to immoderate imaginable of Turkey’s reintegration into the F-35 programme without implicit compliance with CAATSA requirements," their connection said.

A spokesperson for the Turkish authorities did not reply to a petition for comment.