US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to move ahead with the sale of dozens of jet engines to Turkey, a package worth hundreds of millions of dollars, despite objections from some members of the US Congress, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing four sources familiar with the matter.
The planned sale is seen as an important gesture to Ankara before Turkey hosts a NATO summit next month.
The engines, produced by General Electric, will power Turkey’s first domestically developed combat jet, KAAN, a major project launched in 2016 as part of Ankara’s efforts to reduce its dependence on foreign defense suppliers. One of the sources told Reuters the package would be worth more than $700 million.
Turkey and the United States have generally had warm ties under Trump, who regularly praises Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. But relations have been strained for years over Washington’s decision to remove Turkey from the F-35 fighter jet program and impose sanctions after Ankara acquired Russian-made S-400 air defense systems, which the United States says pose a security threat.
Asked on Wednesday about the jet engines, the F-35 program and his plans for the summit in Ankara, Trump said, “I’m going to probably do something that will make them very happy.”
While the engine sale is expected to be welcomed in Ankara, analysts say it falls well short of Turkey’s larger goal of returning to the F-35 program.
“Acquiring the engines is certainly important for Turkey, but it is also the lowest-hanging fruit for a US administration that has made far more ambitious promises to Ankara, including Turkey’s return to the F-35 program,” said Gönül Tol, director of the Washington-based Middle East Institute’s Turkish program.
“The real test of whether Washington and Ankara can open a new chapter in bilateral relations lies there,” Tol said.
US law does not allow Turkey to operate or possess the S-400 system if it wants to rejoin the F-35 program. US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in December that the warm relationship between Trump and Erdoğan had helped the two sides hold “the most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade.”
The Turkish foreign ministry declined to comment to Reuters.
Turkey will host NATO leaders at a time of tensions within the alliance over burden-sharing, defense spending and US complaints about allies’ role in efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open during the US-Iran war.
Turkey’s 2019 acquisition of the Russian air defense systems weakened congressional support for the NATO ally, although lawmakers ultimately approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets in 2024.
Some of that opposition remains. Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, raised objections during an informal review process and has not given his approval for the package, two of the sources, including a US official, told Reuters.
In a statement on Wednesday, Meeks criticized what he described as the administration’s failure to make a “good-faith” effort to brief him on the implications of the sale for bilateral ties and Turkey’s possession of the S-400s.
“These items will not be delivered for years, and the administration repeatedly ignored persistent requests for information and clarification on key aspects of US policy,” Meeks said.
Despite his objection, the decision to proceed with the sale is expected to be finalized in the coming days, followed by a formal notification from the State Department to Congress, the sources said. The congressional review process allows lawmakers to weigh in on major arms sales, but their objections are not binding if a US administration decides to proceed.
The Trump administration has bypassed, or threatened to bypass, congressional holds on several weapons sales.
“As a matter of general policy, we do not comment on pending arms transfers. Official correspondence with Congress is conducted through official channels,” a State Department official said.
Speaking alongside Trump, Vice President JD Vance said a review was underway to determine whether Turkey has complied with US laws so it can receive F-35 fighter jets.
“Pete and the entire team are reviewing this right now, because there are certain things that we have to certify have happened … in order to comply with American law,” he said, referring to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.
Frustrated by uneven ties with the West and past arms embargoes, Turkey has developed its own KAAN stealth fighter. Turkish officials acknowledge, however, that it will take years before KAAN can replace the US-made F-16s that form the backbone of the Turkish air force.
The US decision to move forward with the sale comes nearly a year after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan publicly complained about what he described as a delay in the process.