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United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday hinted that Washington is actively considering the sale of F-35 Lightning II aircraft to Turkey, describing Ankara as “much more loyal than other countries.” His remarks come amid renewed engagement between Washington and Ankara.

“It’s a decision we are going to make… Turkey has been, in many ways, much more loyal than other countries that we think would be loyal — so, yeah, it’s something certainly we would consider,” Trump said with Erdogan by his side.

As he held a bilateral meeting with the Turkish President at the Beştepe Presidential Complex in Ankara, Trump said, “It’s an honor to be with you and we’re going to have a lot of good meetings… We’re going to do good things for our countries.”

Earlier today, Trump was welcomed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he landed in Ankara for the much-buzzed NATO summit. The US president was greeted by Erdogan and an honour guard flanking a turquoise carpet.

The Turkish leader was waiting on the blue carpet for Trump as he descended from Air Force One. They shook hands and Trump patted Erdogan’s shoulder before they walked together toward the guard.

Erdogan was wearing sunglasses as they posed for pictures in the bright sun.

They did not make comments to reporters, but Trump could be heard speaking to Erdogan about the new airplane he’s using as Air Force One.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly urged the US not to sell the jets to Turkey, saying it would upset the balance of power in the Middle East.

Netanyahu on Monday on ‘Fox & Friends’ said that the “power balance” in West Asia is “ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America’s posture in the Middle East.” Israel’s Air Force depends on hundreds of US fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400 missile defence systems.

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