Erdogan to seek deal with Trump on F-35s at White House

U.S. President Donald Trump will host President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday, Reuters writes.

This marks Erdogan’s first visit to the White House in about six years.

As noted, the Turkish leader hopes to leverage the countries’ warmest bilateral ties in years to convince Washington to drop U.S. sanctions and allow it to purchase F-35 fighter jets.

The administration of former President Joe Biden kept Turkey at arm’s length partly over what it saw as the fellow NATO member’s close ties with Russia. Under Trump, who views Moscow more favorably and has closer personal ties with Erdogan, Ankara is hoping for a better relationship.

The mood shift has renewed Turkish hopes that Trump and Erdogan can find a way around U.S. sanctions imposed by Trump himself in 2020 over Turkey’s acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defenses.