Trump says he is undecided on F-35s for Turkey

President Trump said Wednesday he is undecided on whether to readmit Turkey into the U.S.’s F-35 fighter jet program after expelling the country during his first term.

“I haven’t totally made up my mind, but my inclination is to say, look, he’s [Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] done everything, he’s helped us in so many different ways, and you know who else has been good to us, China” the president said during the press conference at the NATO summit when asked if made a decision on bringing back Turkey, a NATO member, into the program.

Trump expelled Turkey from the F-35 program during his first White House term after Ankara acquired Russian S-400 air defense systems.

On Tuesday, the president indicated his administration would lift sanctions on Turkey, one of the steps necessary to bring back Ankara into the program.

“I can tell you we’re going to be taking the sanctions off. OK? I don’t want him to waste his time answering that question,” Trump said, sitting beside Erdoğan.

Trump’s willingness to sell F-35s, one of the most advanced fighter jets in the world, which are typically sold to close U.S. allies, has prompted bipartisan pushback in Congress and from Israel.

“If you give this kind of radical regime, that admittedly smiles to the president of the United States when it’s necessary, when you give it that power, you’re going to see aggression in its wake,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

The sanctions are codified in two laws, a provision in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act and the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. The provision states that the commander in chief certifies that S-400s are neutralized before Turkey can have the F-35 stealth fighter technology.

Even lawmakers who are open to bringing Turkey back into the program have stressed that Ankara cannot have the S-400s in its possession.