🔶 Trump’s arrival in Ankara and Turkey’s reaction to Israel’s opposition to the sale of F-35 fighter jets Donald Trump, president of the United States, arrived in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Tuesday, July 7 (16 Tir), to attend the NATO leaders’ summit. Before the official NATO leaders’ dinner, he went to the Turkish presidential palace to meet and talk with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The New York Times, citing four senior U.S. government officials, reported that Trump intends to tell Erdoğan during the meeting that Washington is ready to help facilitate Turkey’s return to the F-35 fighter jet program. Turkey was removed from the U.S. F-35 program in 2019 after purchasing the S-400 missile defense system from Russia. Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, had expressed concern about the possibility of Washington agreeing to sell these fighter jets to Turkey on Monday. According to reports, in his recent phone call with Trump, he asked him to avoid this move. Israel claims that selling these stealth radar fighter jets to Turkey will upset the balance of power in the region.