Turkey receives $700 million U.S. jet engine sale ahead of NATO summit

The Trump administration approved a $700 million sale of General Electric F110 jet engines to Turkey on June 21, bypassing Congress. Representative Gregory Meeks complained, “The State Department didn’t even attempt to justify this decision.” The sale, part of a broader defense package, comes despite Turkey’s 2019 acquisition of Russia’s S‑400 system and its removal from the U.S. F‑35 program. Analysts say the engines are critical for Turkey’s KAAN fifth‑generation fighter project.

The deal is timed for the NATO summit hosted by Turkey in Ankara on July 7‑8, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will seek to lift restrictions on its defense sector and restore broader cooperation. Commentators note that Erdogan’s role as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine adds strategic weight to the summit. Luke Coffey of the Hudson Institute remarked, “If there’s one NATO ally Trump doesn’t want to antagonize going into the summit, it’s Turkey.”