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Trump Says Dispute With Turkey Over S-400 ‘Will Work Out Fine’

Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) --President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a dispute with Turkey over its purchase of a Russian anti-aircraft missile system “will work out fine.”

Trump made the comment to reporters as he met at the White House with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The leaders didn’t offer any indication of how the differences between the countries would be resolved.

The Russian S-400 system, which Turkey began purchasing earlier this year, was designed to shoot down U.S. and allied aircraft at greater ranges and altitudes than older systems. U.S. officials are concerned that sensitive technology in its advanced F-35 fighter plane designed to evade such a system could be compromised and used to improve the Russian air defense system if Turkey, a NATO member, has both.

Top Pentagon officials have repeatedly said Turkey will not be able to participate in the U.S. F-35 program if the country continues with its deployment of the S-400. That position has been bolstered with bipartisan support among U.S. lawmakers, who have denounced Erdogan’s tightening embrace of Russia.

Ellen Lord, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, said Oct. 29 that the U.S. believes Turkey will fully activate the Russian missile defense system by year-end.

“There has been no change to return Turkey to the F-35 program,” Lord said. “The S-400 air defense system, which is incompatible with the F-35, remains in Turkey,” and “we anticipate that being fully operational toward the end of the year,” she said at the time.

Turkey is an original partner on the F-35, the world’s costliest defense program. Its planned purchases of about 100 jets made it one of the four top foreign customers for the stealthy fighter made by Lockheed Martin Corp., along with Japan, Australia and the U.K. If it continues, Turkey’s expulsion from the program will directly impact at least ten of the country’s companies making almost 1,000 different parts for the plane.

Nevertheless, Trump has raised doubts about whether he backs the decision to kick Turkey out of the F-35 program. In an Oct. 8 tweet, he said, “So many people conveniently forget that Turkey is a big trading partner of the United States, in fact they make the structural steel frame for our F-35 Fighter Jet.”

Trump has blamed his predecessor, Barack Obama, for the tensions with Turkey, inaccurately saying that the former president wouldn’t let Turkey buy the U.S.-made Patriot system instead.

In fact, the U.S. has sought to sell Ankara the Patriot air-defense missile since at least 2013, but Erdogan insisted that it come with a transfer of technology so that Turkey could develop and build its own missiles. The Obama administration declined.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Bill Faries in Washington at [email protected];
Jordan Fabian in Washington at [email protected]

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Bill Faries at [email protected]
Justin Blum, Alex Wayne

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