Trump urges Turkey to give up Russian oil. How to describe Erdogan, on the first visit to the White House after 2019
Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, White House discussions on Thursday, September 25, 2025. Credit: Pool / Abaca / Abaca Press / Profimedia
President Donald Trump has met with his Turkish counterpart on Thursday at the White House and suggested that the US could raise sanctions targeting Turkey and could afford to buy US F-35 fighter jets, but said that Ankara will stop buying Russian oil, reports Reuters.
It is the first visit of the Turkish leader to the White House in about six years. Place each other in the Oval Office, Donald Trump described on Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “very harsh man” and said he would like to see Turkey giving up Russian oil purchases.
Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia are the main European buyers of Russian oil, and Trump is pressuring the situation.
Asked by reporters if he is willing to conclude an agreement for the sale of F-35 aircraft to Turkey, the US president replied: “I think he will be successful in buying the things he wants to buy.”
The US leader also mentioned that he could raise sanctions against Turkey “very soon”: “If we have a good meeting, almost immediately.”
He said that the subject will be approached in the discussions in the Oval Office.
Change of attitude in the bilateral relationship
Former US President Joe Biden held Turkey away, partly because of what they consider to be close links between Ankara and Moscow. In Trump's mandate, the Turkish side hopes for a better relationship with Washington.
Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had a tense relationship in the first term of the Republican at the White House. However, since Trump returned to the US Presidency, the interests of the two leaders have aligned with Syria, the source of the greatest bilateral tensions of the past, where both Washington and Ankara are firmly supporting the central government.
The divergences persist on Israel's attacks on the Gaza strip, which Ankara considers genocide.
The change of attitude has renewed Turkey's hopes that Trump and Erdogan, who praised each other, can find a way to bypass American sanctions imposed by Trump himself in 2020 as a result of Turkish decision to purchase Russian S-400 missile defense.
This could allow Ankara to buy F-35 fighter jets from Lockheed Martin, for whom he was both buyer and producer, until he was forbidden to access S-400.
Erdogan said the defense industry, including the topic of F-35 aircraft and negotiations on the 40 F-16 aircraft that Ankara also wants, will be a central point, along with regional wars, energy and trade.
An American official has said that Washington has drafted a statement of intent-a document used to facilitate discussions-for more sales to Turkey, including the new F-16 aircraft, which would strengthen its existing fleet.
