By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the potential sale of American fighter jets during bilateral talks, and hinted that defense industry sanctions could soon be lifted.
Trump said he would have a "big" and wide-ranging discussion with Erdogan addressing trade, regional issues and the sale of the fighter jets.
"They want to buy F-16, F-35s and some other things, and we're going to talk to them about that. And we're just going to have, I think, a very interesting couple of hours. We're going to get a lot done. But I have great respect for this man, and we've had a very good relationship for a long time," Trump told reporters ahead of the closed-door discussions.
Asked about lifting Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions that were imposed on Türkiye in 2020, Trump hinted that the penalties could be removed in the extreme near-term.
"Could be very soon, if we have a good meeting, almost immediately," Trump said.
Trump and Erdogan are scheduled to meet in the Oval Office for 30 minutes before heading into a working lunch in the Cabinet Room, though the time is subject to how the talks play out.