{"id":38827,"date":"2019-07-16T17:47:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-16T17:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/07\/16\/trump-cuts-off-f-35-for-turkey-and-lawmakers-say-sanctions-are-coming\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:06:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:06:37","slug":"trump-cuts-off-f-35-for-turkey-and-lawmakers-say-sanctions-are-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2019\/07\/16\/trump-cuts-off-f-35-for-turkey-and-lawmakers-say-sanctions-are-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers say Trump is locked into Turkey sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was updated with additional quotes from U.S. President Donald Trump and defense secretary nominee Mark Esper.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 After days of silence about whether Turkey will be punished for accepting a Russian-made air defense system<\/a>, U.S. President Donald Trump reluctantly seemed to agree Turkey will now be cut off from the F-35 fighter jet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Washington has repeatedly warned that the Russian system, the S-400, is incompatible with NATO systems and is a threat to the F-35, Trump expressed sympathy toward Turkey\u2019s decision. He portrayed the Obama administration as refusing to sell Turkey an American alternative \u2014 the Patriot missile defense system \u2014 until after the S-400 purchase was complete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo what happens is we have a situation where Turkey is very good with us, very good, and we are now telling Turkey that because you have really been forced to buy another missile system, we\u2019re not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets,” Trump said. “It\u2019s a very tough situation that they\u2019re in, and it\u2019s a very tough situation that we\u2019ve been placed in, the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith all of that being said, we\u2019re working through it, but it\u2019s not really fair,\u201d Trump added. \u201cBecause they bought a Russian system, we\u2019re not allowed to sell them billions [of dollars worth] of aircraft. It\u2019s not a fair situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration\u2019s delayed response has fueled speculation Trump was looking to avoid a fight with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan, with whom he has previously sympathized. And notably, Trump did not say whether he would impose sanctions on Turkey under the Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But members of Congress this week said the law is very clear: Trump has no choice but to sanction its NATO ally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Military
Military vehicles and equipment, parts of the S-400 air defense systems, are unloaded from a Russian transport aircraft, at Murted military airport in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, July 12, 2019. (Turkish Defence Ministry via AP, Pool)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Days ago, Erdo\u011fan expressed a belief that Trump has the authority to waive sanctions on Turkey for its purchase of the Russian air defense systems and must \u201cfind the middle ground.\u201d But Trump may find Congress closed the door to compromise when it set a high bar last year to waive U.S. sanctions on countries that buy Russian weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers from both parties said the waiver language was included to accommodate allies India and Vietnam, it was tailor-made not to let Turkey off the hook for its purchase of the S-400, and a waiver would be impermissible under current circumstances. The White House, under the law, will instead have to choose from the law\u2019s menu of sanctions, several lawmakers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s wide latitude about what to do about the sanctions, but the sanctions certainly need to be put in place,\u201d Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford, a critic of Turkey and one of the lawmakers involved in drafting the waiver provision, said Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stealthy trouble<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, the U.S. and other NATO allies have expressed alarm that plugging the Russian system into the alliance could lead to data leaks and security breaches, voicing fears it would allow Russia to gain information about the stealthy F-35 fighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turkish Defence Ministry on July 12 announced it received the first pieces of the S-400 at Murted Air Base, near Ankara. That delivery was marked as a trigger for sanctions against Turkey and a breaking point for its participation in the F-35 program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon initially called a press briefing the morning of July 12, then rescheduled it for later that day; it was eventually postponed indefinitely. While defense secretary nominee Mark Esper briefly said Friday that the \u201cposition regarding the F-35 has not changed,\u201d no detailed statement about the F-35\u2019s fate had been issued until Tuesday, when Esper was asked about it during his Senate confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s certainly disappointing. Those are my words. Very disappointing,\u201d Esper said. \u201cThe policy that I\u2019ve communicated to my counterpart, if confirmed, defense minister, is you can either have the S-400 or the F-35. You cannot have both. Acquisition of the S-400 fundamentally undermines the capabilities of the F-35 and our ability to maintain that overmatch in the skies going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey, a partner in the F-35 program that helped fund the development of the jet, planned to buy 100 F-35As. Its first jet was rolled out in June 2018 in a festive \u201cdelivery ceremony.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Turkey formally owns its jets, the U.S. has the power to keep the planes from moving to Turkish soil and intends to keep all four existing Turkish jets from leaving the United States. The U.S. has stopped training Turkish pilots on the F-35 and has given Ankara until the end of July to get its personnel out of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanctions coming<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told The Washington Post on Sunday he was confident the president would levy sanctions as CAATSA requires. \u201cThe law requires that there be sanctions and I\u2019m confident that we will comply with the law and President Trump will comply with the law,\u201d Pompeo said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey has refused to bow to U.S. pressure, insisting that choosing which defense equipment to purchase is a matter of national sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Trump expressed sympathy toward Turkey\u2019s decision to purchase the Russian system during a meeting with Erdo\u011fan on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Japan, Washington has repeatedly said that the Russian system is incompatible with NATO systems and is a threat to the F-35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lankford and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee\u2019s ranking member, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., echoed that argument this week as reason to punish Turkey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike India, Turkey is a NATO ally, the interoperability of our systems is critical, the inability of us to have an F-35 next to an S-400 is crystal clear, and [Turkish officials] were given options,\u201d Menendez said. \u201cIn every respect, they turned their backs on us. They had an option and they refused to do so. That\u2019s why there\u2019s not going to be a waiver.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make it clear that if you get Russian equipment, especially with them parking an F-35 next to an S-400, there\u2019s no way you can do that. They\u2019re not compatible,\u201d Lankford said. \u201cAll this conversation about \u2018we\u2019re going to study it, we\u2019re going to examine it\u2019? We already know what the end result is on that. We don\u2019t want to incentivize people using Russian and American equipment together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t