: President Donald Trump is considering lifting sanctions on and resuming the sale of fighter jets to Turkey after a conversation with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. 

Trump expressed an intent to help finalize the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey and is open to the idea of selling Turkey its true prized goal, F-35 jets, if the two sides can come to an agreement that renders Turkey’s Russian S-400 system inoperable, two sources confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

That agreement could look like partially disassembling the machinery or moving it to a U.S.-controlled base in Turkey. 

Congress approved the $23 billion sale of 40 F-16s and modernization kits for 79 in its current fleet to Turkey last year, but there are ongoing negotiations between Turkey’s defense ministry and Lockheed Martin, which builds the jet. 

Trump’s team has asked for legal and technical analysis of how it could avoid finding Turkey in violation of Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions, according to one source familiar with the request. 

The State Department and National Security Council could not be reached for comment. 

The U.S. agreed to extend a waiver allowing Turkey to buy Russian natural gas until May, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. 

Trump and Erdogan spoke by phone on Sunday, and the Turkish government is looking to firm up plans to bring Erdogan to the U.S. to visit with Trump in the near future. 

The Turkish embassy pointed to a readout of the call from Erdogan’s office which said the president had expressed to Trump, ‘in order to develop cooperation between the two countries in the field of defense industry, it is necessary to end CAATSA sanctions, finalize the F-16 procurement process and finalize Türkiye’s re-participation in the F-35 program.’

Erdogan asked the U.S. to lift sanctions on Syria, where a new governing force, HTS, overthrew Bashar al-Assad with Turkish backing. The U.S. side did not provide a readout of the call. 

Turkey was kicked out of the F-35 program following its purchase of a Russian S-400 mobile missile-to-air system due to spying concerns associated with having a Kremlin-operated system so close to a high-level U.S. technology like the F-35.

‘The F-35 cannot coexist with a Russian intelligence collection platform that will be used to learn about its advanced capabilities,’ the White House said in 2019, adding that the purchase would have ‘detrimental impacts’ on Turkey’s participation in NATO. 

Ankara, Turkey’s capital, had brokered the $2.5 billion deal with Russia for the S400s in 2017, despite U.S. warnings that there would be political and economic consequences. In an effort to deter Turkey, the U.S. offered to sell them the Patriot system, but Ankara wanted the system’s sensitive missile technology along with it, and the U.S. declined. 

The U.S. considerations come after the United Kingdom offered a price proposal to Turkey to purchase 40 of its Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets last week. 

A move to sell Turkey F-35s would prove controversial, and prompt concern from U.S. allies like Israel, where Turkey cut off all relations due to the Gaza war last year, and Greece due to disputes over Cyprus and the surrounding waters.

Experts describe the F-35 as a ‘status symbol.’ ‘The F-35 club is really for trusted allies,’ said Jonathan Schanzer, executive director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 

‘This is a Turkey that supports the Houthis, which President Trump is bombing and supports Hamas and supports Hezbollah,’ said Endy Zemenides, executive director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council. ‘We know that they don’t want to be a customer, they want to be a competitor in the arms market.’ 

However, isolating Turkey, which has the second-largest standing military after the U.S. in NATO, could push them to go to Russia and China for weapons supplies. 

‘Trump’s about making a business deal here, right? We don’t need Turkey with nearly one million soldiers on the other side and leaning more towards Russia and China, right?’ said Jonathan Bass, Argent LNG CEO and international trade expert.

‘Turkey is an unresolved thorn in the side of the NATO alliance,’ said Schanzer, ‘It certainly seems to be a priority right now for the Trump administration to try to bring them back into the fold.’

However, he added, ‘There’s the democracy deficit and the autocratic tendencies of Erdogan. All of these things are creating a very cloudy picture for U.S. engagement. So it’s buyer beware.’ 

‘Turkey is a major economy. We need them to come down on the right side of the fence. We need them from a supply chain standpoint,’ countered Bass. 

He added that the U.S. needs to partner with Turkey on mining for rare earths minerals. ‘Turkey has a lot more mining infrastructure,’ he said. ‘They can help us with mining operations in Africa. We don’t have the people willing to do that.’

‘If you don’t give Erdogan a seat at the table, he’s going to make his own table,’ Bass warned. 

‘He wants to be respected as he should. He’s got 80 million people that he represents. But we need to give him clear lines of engagement.’ 

President Donald Trump said former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, contributed to the Democrats’ loss in the 2024 election. 

Trump’s comments came in response to statements Walz provided in a podcast with California Gov. Gavin Newsom that aired on Tuesday, in which Walz predicted he could kick the ‘a–‘ of most Trump supporters. 

‘Well, he’s a loser. Yeah. No, I think so. He lost an election,’ Trump said Friday in the Oval Office of the White House. ‘He played a part. You know, usually a vice president doesn’t play a part. They say. I think Tim played a part. I think he was so bad that he hurt her. But she hurt herself. And Joe hurt them both. They didn’t have a great group, but I would probably put him at the bottom of the group.’ 

A spokesperson for Walz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Walz’s comments originated during a discussion with Newsom about toxic masculinity. While Newsom discussed why he has brought on conservative figures like Charlie Kirk on his podcast because he believes one shouldn’t write someone off for having different views, Walz questioned how to challenge Trump backers. 

‘How do you fight it? I think I could kick most of their a–. I do think that,’ Walz said in response. ‘But I don’t know if we’re going to fall into that place where we want to— okay, we challenge you to a WWE fight here type thing.’

Walz also told Newsom he believes ‘I scare them a little bit’ and that he’s received scrutiny from Republicans, prompting Newsom to laugh. 

‘No, I’m serious, because they know I can fix a truck, they know I’m not bulls—-ing on this,’ Walz said. 

Meanwhile, Walz received some criticism for his comments on the podcast. 

Caitlyn Jenner, a trans woman formerly known as Bruce Jenner and former Olympic gold-medal decathlete, joked in an X post of being more ‘masculine’ than Walz. 

Vice President JD Vance also addressed Walz’ comments in an interview with The Daily Caller’s Vince Coglianese that aired Thursday. 

‘I have to say, Vince, I was never physically intimidated by Tim Walz,’ Vance said. 

Vance also addressed speculation that Walz may attempt to run for the U.S. Senate, following his bid as Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election.

‘I’m not too worried about Tim Walz as a political talent,’ Vance said. 

President Donald Trump called the U.S.-Canada border an ‘artificial line’ while also declining to say whether Canada would lean right or left if it were to become a state. 

Trump’s Friday comments were made during a press conference in the Oval Office amid controversy over the president speaking of Canada as the ’51st state.’

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked the president whether he would be ‘concerned’ about whether Canada ‘would be a very, very blue state.’

‘It’s just an artificial line that was drawn in the sand or in the ice,’ Trump said. ‘You add that to this country – what a beautiful landmass. The most beautiful landmass anywhere in the world. And it was just cut off for whatever reason.’

‘It would be great,’ he continued. 

Trump circumvented the question, saying, ‘I don’t care who winds up there.’

‘Frankly, [it] probably would do better with the liberal than the conservative, if you want to know the truth,’ he responded. 

Trump referenced former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the exchange, whom he has notably called ‘Governor Trudeau.’

Trudeau resigned as leader of the Liberal Party and the country’s prime minister in early January, following increased pressure and criticism from within his own party and threats levied by then-President-Elect Trump. 

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership earlier this month, replacing Trudeau. 

‘I think Canada is a place like a lot of other places – if you have a good candidate, the candidate’s going to win,’ Trump said. 

Canadian MP Charlie Angus recently claimed the Trump administration had committed an ‘act of war’ over Trump repeatedly referring to Canada as the U.S.’ ’51st state’ and for leveling tariffs on the nation. 

‘Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school, because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war. When you rip up, arbitrarily, trade agreements and threaten and say you’re going to break a country, that’s an act of war. And Canadians have responded in kind,’ Angus said during an interview earlier this week with the MeidasTouch Network.

Trump leveled a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum from other nations in early March, while Canada specifically is set to face a 25% tax on all imported goods beginning April 2. The tariffs have sparked boycotts of U.S. goods. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has ‘no business’ conducting affairs at the Pentagon, amid reports Musk would receive secret information from top military officials Friday about military contingency plans should a war break out with China.  

While The New York Times reported that Musk was set to receive military plans about any potential China conflict, the Pentagon and White House pushed back and said Musk’s briefing wouldn’t cover China. 

‘Elon Musk is an unelected, self-interested billionaire with no business anywhere near the Pentagon,’ Gillibrand said in an X post Friday morning with a photo of the Times story, just after Musk arrived at the Pentagon. Gillibrand is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

The possibility of Musk receiving information on China raises a possible conflict of interest, given the fact that Musk has financial interests in China stemming from Tesla, and SpaceX is working with the U.S. federal government on military space capabilities. 

However, the Trump administration swiftly pushed back on the Times’ reporting, and Trump issued a post on social media discrediting the story as ‘completely untrue.’

‘They said, incorrectly, that Elon Musk is going to the Pentagon tomorrow to be briefed on any potential ‘war with China.’ How ridiculous?’ China will not even be mentioned or discussed,’ President Donald Trump said in a Thursday night Truth Social post. 

A former Obama administration official also sounded the alarm about Musk’s visit to the Pentagon. 

Xochitl Hinojosa, who previously served as a spokesperson for former Attorney General Eric Holder and communications director for the Democratic National Committee, said that career officials must have disclosed the information about the meeting to the press because they were concerned about what would be shared with Musk. 

‘What is happening here, and everyone needs to be scared, is Pentagon officials are sounding the alarm,’ Hinojosa said in an interview with CNN Thursday night. ‘This doesn’t just happen on its own. This has happened because career officials in the Pentagon are terrified. And they believe there is a conflict of interest. That is why it is in the New York Times. Because I am sure they took it to the senior most people within the White House and within the Pentagon and they didn’t do anything about it.’

Hinojosa said that during her time at the Justice Department, career officials would sound the alarm if they became aware of any unethical behavior at the agency. 

‘That is exactly what is happening here,’ Hinojosa said. 

Hinojosa could not be reached for comment by Fox News Digital. 

The New York Times published a story Thursday evening claiming that Musk’s visit to the Pentagon would involve discussing plans in the event of a potential war with China. Specifically, the Times reported that the briefing involved a presentation with 20 to 30 slides on how the U.S. would combat China, various Chinese targets to strike and how the Pentagon would share these plans with Trump. 

The Times also reported the meeting would occur in the so-called Tank, a secure conference room that the Joint Chiefs utilize for meetings, along with other senior staff and visiting combatant commanders. 

Meanwhile, the Times report also noted that Musk may have needed to know information about plans for China as he eyes cutting the Pentagon’s budget amid his efforts leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

Pentagon war plans are highly confidential for operational security purposes. Should details regarding the U.S. military’s strategy to combat an enemy be shared or leaked in any way, it would jeopardize U.S. forces and undermine the success of the military campaign.

Hegseth also weighed in on the matter, and said the meeting with Musk would primarily center around innovation. 

‘But the fake news delivers again — this is NOT a meeting about ‘top secret China war plans.’ It’s an informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies & smarter production. Gonna be great!’ Hegseth said in a post on X late Thursday evening. 

In response to Hegseth’s post, Musk responded: ‘Exactly. Also, I’ve been to the Pentagon many times over many years. Not my first time in the building.’ 

Musk also said in a separate post he looks ‘forward to the prosecutions of those at the Pentagon who are leaking maliciously false information to NYT. 

‘They will be found,’ he said. 

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.