On July 17, 2019, the United States kicked Turkey out of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, five days after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the Russian-made S-400 air defense system it had purchased. President Donald Trump may admire Erdogan, but he had no choice. The 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act applied sanctions that Trump had no power to waive on those who conduct business with Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

Seven years on, Trump appears intent on resuming the F-35 sale to Turkey. He has called Turkey a “loyal” ally. “We don’t want to sanction friends,” he said. Erdogan, meanwhile, appears intent on offloading the S-400s to bypass CAATSA. The latest rumor suggests that Turkey will sell the S-400s to the United Arab Emirates. Bypassing CAATSA does not make selling the F-35 to Turkey wise. Turkey’s defense industry reverse-engineers American technology, and Erdogan has repeatedly embraced terrorist groups such as Hamas. Turkey’s recent deployment of F-16s to occupied Northern Cyprus shows Erdogan will not uphold end-use agreements. Turkey’s cheerleaders may say the country needs F-35s to counter Russia, but the reality is that Turkey is far more likely to use the stealth jets to attack Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Armenia, or eastern Libya.