Erdogan’s Trump ties give Turkey an edge before NATO summit

NATO’s July 7-8 summit at the Beştepe Presidential Complex will bring leaders from the alliance’s 32 member states to Ankara, with Donald Trump expected to attend. It will be NATO’s 36th summit and only the second hosted by Turkey, after Istanbul in 2004.

The central prize for Ankara is a proposed sale of about $700 million in GE Aerospace F110 turbofan engines. Turkey wants “dozens” of the engines for KAAN, which still depends on imported power plants while Turkish Aerospace Industries works on an indigenous replacement, the TEI-TF35000. That homegrown engine is expected to be integrated into KAAN around 2032 and to reach maturity by 2036, leaving a long gap the U.S. deal could help bridge.

In June 2026, after being asked about Turkey’s effort to secure the engines and possibly re-enter the F-35 program, Trump told reporters he would make Erdogan “very happy.” Turkey has spent years on the outside of the F-35 program after its purchase of Russia’s S-400 air-defense system triggered sanctions and its removal from the fighter jet project.

The U.S. notification to Congress arrived on June 24, and lawmakers have 15 days to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval to block the sale. Representative Dina Titus has already introduced legislation to stop it, while Representative Gregory Meeks has criticized the administration for failing to give advance justification. Turkish analysts say even if the transfer moves ahead, it would not settle the F-35 dispute, but it could release engines Turkey needs for KAAN.

Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s foreign minister, said the Erdogan-Trump channel could ease NATO tensions as the alliance debates defense spending, Ukraine and Iran.