Trump Says U.S. Will Lift Turkey Sanctions With No Timeline or Conditions Stated

President Trump said the United States will lift sanctions on Turkey and is considering selling F-35 fighter jets to the country. He made the statements during a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Erdogan. The sanctions were imposed in 2020 after Turkey purchased the Russian S-400 missile defense system.

Turkey was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 following that purchase. Erdogan has sought Turkey's return to the fighter jet consortium. Trump delivered the announcement during remarks on the National Mall at 11:15 p.m.

EDT on July 4, 2026. Weather had delayed the scheduled end of Independence Day events. In the same speech he displayed a flag carried at the 1777 Battle of Saratoga, the flag that draped Abraham Lincoln's casket, and a flag recovered from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor.

Trump recognized 11 Gold Star families and brought three veterans onstage: 103-year-old Ken Schubring, 101-year-old Don Graves, and 107-year-old Arthur Rose. He also recounted the story of William Carney, the first African American recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. No timeline or conditions for lifting the sanctions were stated in the remarks.