President Donald Trump said Monday evening that no one dictates U.S. arms sales policy, directly rejecting Prime Minister Netanyahu's opposition to selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Trump described Turkey as a 'tremendous ally,' according to a report. The statement follows a separate report earlier Monday in which Trump dismissed the Israeli objections and called Erdogan 'my friend.'
President Donald Trump said this evening at 19:39 Jerusalem that no one dictates U.S. arms sales policy, directly rejecting Prime Minister Netanyahu's opposition to the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. "Nobody tells me what we should be selling or not," Trump said, describing Turkey as a "tremendous ally" and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "my friend," according to Israeli media reports. The statement escalates a public rift between Washington and Jerusalem over the deal.
The initial reports of Trump's remarks emerged at 19:39 Jerusalem and were covered by multiple Israeli news outlets. The Zioneer published its own account at 20:45 Jerusalem. The development follows a series of earlier reports in this thread: on July 17, Axios reported that Trump was furious at Netanyahu's criticism of the planned sale and refused to schedule a meeting. On July 8, Trump said his tendency was to approve the sale, citing Erdogan's assistance. On July 7, Israeli security officials pressed Netanyahu to urgently discuss the matter with Trump, warning the deal could erode Israel's qualitative air superiority.
The broader context of U.S.-Israel friction over policy toward Turkey and Iran has been documented by The Zioneer. On June 8, The Zioneer reported that Trump told the Financial Times that Netanyahu "will have to accept" an American deal with Iran. On June 15, The Zioneer reported that Trump told the New York Times that Netanyahu should thank the U.S. for the Iran deal and called him a "very difficult guy." On June 25, The Zioneer reported that Trump described Erdogan as a "great leader" and said he could have joined the Iran war but Trump asked him not to.
The White House has not announced a final decision on the F-35 sale, but Trump's repeated public statements signal a clear intent to proceed regardless of Israeli objections. It remains unclear whether Netanyahu and Trump have spoken directly about the matter since the reports emerged.
8 developments
- DevelopingTrump leans toward approving F-35 sale to Turkey, praises Erdogan's help
- StrongTrump says he will likely approve F-35 and engine sale to Turkey
- DevelopingTurkish FM Fidan criticizes US arms-sale denial to Ankara as 'unjustified'
- StrongTrump says he would not sell F-35s to Turkey, warns of regional imbalance
Source and signal
- Open-source intake