Trump administration notifies Congress on $700 million Turkey jet engine sale

The Trump administration formally notified Congress on June 25 that it planned to sell dozens of General Electric jet engines worth more than $700 million to Turkey. The package would support Turkey’s KAAN fighter program, and critics in Congress argue it risks rewarding a government that has not resolved its dispute with the United States over Russia’s S-400 missile system.

The engines are meant to power KAAN, Turkey’s indigenous combat jet, which Ankara launched in 2016 as part of a push for a more self-reliant air force. The aircraft made its first flight on February 21, 2024, and the engine sale would help move the program from prototype work toward production. Turkish Aerospace Industries has positioned KAAN as a centerpiece of Turkey’s defense industry ambitions, and the engine package is a key step in that effort.

The State Department weighed political, military, economic, human rights and arms-control factors before moving ahead. Under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act, major foreign military sales must be formally notified when they cross statutory thresholds, and Congress then has 15 days to try to block the package with a joint resolution of disapproval. Even if lawmakers did that, a presidential veto could still stand in the way of an override.

Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a June 24 statement that the administration was bypassing congressional review for more than $700 million in defense articles to Turkey. He argued the move showed contempt for Congress’s oversight role and failed to address the wider implications for bilateral ties and Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 systems.

The White House is seeking to deepen ties with Ankara, strengthen a NATO ally and send a diplomatic signal before the alliance summit Turkey will host in Ankara on July 7-8, 2026. Donald Trump views President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an important partner.

The move also revives the fight over Turkey’s removal from the U.S.-led F-35 program in 2019, after it bought the Russian S-400 system. Washington determined then that the S-400 could not coexist with the F-35 because of intelligence-security risks. Turkey has called that exclusion unfair and said the U.S. decision contradicted the spirit of the alliance, while congressional critics fear the engine sale signals weaker U.S. leverage and lower standards for NATO behavior.