Donald Trump’s posture toward Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of this week’s NATO summit in Ankara has been striking even by Trump’s own standards. He has praised the Turkish leader as a “hell of a leader” and a good friend, floated reversing a seven-year-old ban on F-35 sales to Turkey, and pushed a $700 million-plus jet engine deal through over bipartisan objections on Capitol Hill. None of this is happening in a vacuum, and the reasons behind it say as much about Trump’s own instincts as they do about Erdogan’s skill in exploiting them.

The Trump administration notified Congress on June 24 that it intends to sell more than $700 million worth of GE Aerospace F-110 engines to Turkey, enough to power roughly 80 units for Ankara’s indigenous KAAN fighter program. Congress now has a narrow, fifteen-day statutory window to introduce a joint resolution of disapproval. That window is closing, and it should be used. The case against the sale is not abstract. Turkey still operates the Russian-made S-400 air defense system it purchased in 2019 — the same purchase that got Ankara expelled from the F-35 program in the first place and triggered CAATSA sanctions that remain in effect today.

President Erdogan is ranting and raving again. He is a danger to the Middle East. The world, and especially NATO members, must strongly condemn his outrageous threats against Israel and force him to end his support for Hamas. We won’t accept threats from a wannabe dictator. — יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) July 28, 2024 Maybe I missed the strong US Administration response to this threat by a NATO member to invade Israel.