President Donald Trump’s bold vision to re-engage a crucial NATO ally, Turkey, by restoring its access to the advanced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program has hit a formidable bureaucratic roadblock. The State Department reportedly delivered a letter to Congress this week, unequivocally stating that Ankara has yet to meet the stringent legal “conditions” necessary for rejoining the program.
This development comes despite President Trump’s recent signals that he wants Turkey back in the fold, a move that underscores the persistent tension between the deep state bureaucracy and an America First foreign policy focused on strategic diplomacy.
Turkey, a long-standing member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, originally joined the F-35 program in 2002, investing a substantial $1.4 billion with aspirations of acquiring at least a hundred of these cutting-edge jet fighters. However, during the first Trump administration, Turkey was expelled from the program in July 2019 due to its insistence on purchasing Russian-made S-400 surface-to-air missile systems. The security risk posed by Russian engineers potentially gaining access to sensitive F-35 technology was rightly deemed intolerable by American officials, prompting Turkey's excommunication after multiple warnings.
Yet, diplomacy under President Trump often charts its own course. During a NATO summit in June, President Trump received a notably warm welcome in Turkey. In the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump openly expressed his desire to sell F-35s to Turkey, a move that immediately resonated with Erdogan, who highlighted Turkey’s significant investment and praised Trump for opening the door to the long-desired warplanes.
“Together with my friend Trump we are opening the door to a new chapter in Turkish-American relations,” Erdogan proclaimed, signaling the potential for a renewed, stronger alliance under Trump’s leadership.
This pragmatic approach, however, instantly drew fire from the usual suspects in Washington. A bipartisan chorus in Congress quickly voiced opposition, citing the lingering security concerns surrounding the S-400 missile, along with Erdogan’s perceived authoritarianism, Turkey’s growing ties with Russia during the Ukraine conflict, and its strained relations with U.S. allies like Greece and Israel. Even the late Senator Lindsey Graham, a conservative voice, expressed deep ambivalence, recognizing Turkey as a “great ally” but conceding that the conditions for F-35 re-entry were not yet met. Such is the challenge when a leader attempts to disrupt the foreign policy establishment’s entrenched views.
The State Department’s Bureau of Legislative Affairs formalized this resistance on Wednesday, responding to an inquiry from Rep. Wesley Bell (D-MO), a vocal critic of Turkey’s F-35 ambitions. The letter, first reported by the right-leaning Greek newspaper Kathimerini, affirmed that Turkey has not satisfied the statutory requirements for receiving F-35 shipments.
While the State Department’s letter reportedly credited Turkey for some positive steps—including support for U.S. counter-terrorism efforts and regional diplomacy, and even offering a degree of leniency regarding Ankara’s controversial interactions with Hamas—it firmly maintained that the S-400 missile issue remains unresolved. The statutory roadblocks, it highlighted, are rooted in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) and the 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
CAATSA was invoked to sanction Turkey for its S-400 acquisition in December 2020. While a future Trump administration might be able to issue a waiver for these sanctions, the 2020 NDAA presents a far more rigid obstacle, containing a binding legal requirement for Turkey to definitively prove its divestment of all S-400 missiles.
In a potential sign of progress, Turkey has explored divesting itself of the S-400s, which have proven to be more of a geopolitical liability than a military asset, never fully integrated into its defense network. In early July, reports emerged of Turkey reaching out to Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to facilitate a transfer of its S-400 systems to the UAE for an estimated $2.5 billion. This proposed deal, however, could present new complexities given the UAE’s existing arsenal of U.S.-made THAAD and Patriot missile systems, alongside air defenses acquired from Israel.
Crucially, questions remain whether Turkey intends to sell all of its problematic Russian missiles to the Emiratis, as the laws cited by the State Department explicitly demand a complete divestment. The State Department has pledged to “continue to engage Ankara on resolving the S-400 issue, while also strengthening our NATO cooperation,” but it seems unlikely that the six F-35s currently in storage, bearing Turkey’s name, will be delivered until the S-400 issue is definitively resolved.
President Trump’s efforts to creatively navigate global alliances and secure America’s interests often clash with entrenched bureaucratic resistance and the legacy of previous policy failures. Reintegrating Turkey into key defense programs, while maintaining ironclad national security, remains a complex challenge—one that highlights the deep divisions within Washington on how best to project American strength and foster pragmatic relationships in a turbulent world. The America First agenda demands leaders with the courage to question the status quo, even when facing significant headwinds from those who prefer the comfort of established, yet often ineffective, policy.
