What are the outcomes of Trump-Erdoğan Meeting at the White House?
- Cemre Sanlav
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met at the White House on September 25 for talks that covered defence purchases and economic ties. The public, on-camera portion of the encounter lasted only minutes, but several short remarks, especially comments about energy, electoral legitimacy and Ankara’s economic pressures, drew outsized attention.
Prior to entering the Oval Office, Trump addressed reporters and made a pointed quip about elections, which was widely reported in Turkish and international outlets. “He knows about rigged elections better than anybody,” he said, referring to Erdoğan—a line that domestic critics immediately read as a signal to both international and Turkish audiences about questions of electoral legitimacy. Trump’s comedic tone did not soften the remark, creating leeway for it to potentially be used by opponents to underline concerns about Türkiye's democratic backsliding. Al Jazeera noted that the principal payoff of the public session beyond any confidential bargaining was the photo-op: Erdoğan appearing as a strong figure on an international stage and receiving visible attention from the U.S. president to gain support to continue his domestic practices in the face of rising opposing views. In other words, for a leader under domestic pressure from curtailed opposition and economic strain, the meeting functions as a form of external legitimation that can be spun for domestic audiences.
Defence and procurement dominated Erdoğan’s agenda. Turkish officials had earlier described Ankara’s shopping list in the tens of billions, focused on aircraft and broader industrial cooperation. U.S. statements during and after the meeting signaled that progress on items such as F-35/F-16 fighter jet sales and sanctions waivers could depend on follow-up diplomacy rather than instant commitments. Another defence-industry development emerged as immediate; tensions remain over supply chains for Türkiye’s domestically developed KAAN fighter program. Turkish officials have said export licenses for US-made F110 turbofan engines, which are a crucial input for KAAN, are stalled by the US political process, delaying production timelines. Media reporting described the license question as a bottleneck that could function as a lapse in wider negotiations on defence cooperation on Türkiye's part, as the production process for 48 KAANs "sold" to Indonesia is foreseen to be in tremor.
Energy was a clear, repeated theme in Trump’s public remarks as well. He told journalists that he urged Ankara to reduce purchases of Russian oil and gas: “The best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia.” Later, he added that he believed Erdoğan “would stop it.” The comment was framed in the context of broader U.S. pressure on Moscow and was linked by the president to potential adjustments in sanctions and defence cooperation in the light of increasing purchases from US based refineries.
When asked later whether Erdoğan had agreed to halt Russian energy purchases, Trump offered a terse formulation that was widely quoted: “If I want him to, he will.” Reporters and subsequent dispatches treated the line as a characterization of expected compliance rather than a statement of a signed commitment.
Erdoğan’s remarks in the public session were shorter and more circumspect. He reiterated a desire to advance “cooperation” on regional issues and trade, thanked the host and referred to ongoing negotiations over military and commercial purchases. Turkish officials accompanying Erdoğan had also said beforehand that Ankara intended to press for a series of defence and commercial deals, a set of requests described by some international outlets like Bloomberg as roughly a “$50 billion” shopping list of potential purchases and investments.
The visit took place against an economic backdrop that Turkish officials and analysts have described as sensitive. Türkiye’s year-on-year consumer inflation has remained elevated through 2025, and official Turkish reports put the annual figure in the high-20s to low-30s range in recent months while unofficial data remain much higher. Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan, speaking separately in public forums, reaffirmed that the bank would maintain a tight monetary policy stance until “lasting price stability” is achieved, a point that was emphasised by international reporting on Türkiye‘s macroeconomic policy. These economics dynamics was important for Erdoğan’s Washington, D.C. agenda, where investor confidence and trade outcomes mattered among the meeting topics.
Media coverage in Türkiye reflected the aforementioned mix of topics. Opposition-leaning and independent outlets highlighted short, quotable exchanges like the “rigged elections” line and Trump’s later "Before I arrived, Pastor Brunson had been sentenced to 35 years in prison. After my call, Erdoğan spared him from that 35-year sentence," a remark which media outlets covered as insidious as phrasing implies that the Turkish judiciary is not independent, since it suggests a judicial decision was reversed or avoided as a result of political intervention on Trump’s demand. The defence and trade negotiations and Erdoğan's calls for stronger bilateral ties were also emphasized throughout the meeting.
Officials from both sides said behind the scenes discussions covered a range of dossiers: potential steps on F-35 and F-16 aircrafts, broader defence procurement, coordination on regional crises and political efforts to address the Gaza conflict. Public statements from Washington tied possible policy shifts including changes to sanctions or equipment restrictions to progress on issues like energy purchases and regional cooperation. Erdoğan did not make an on-the-spot commitment to end energy purchases from Russia during the public session; U.S. statements framed future changes as contingent on further diplomatic progress.
Observers noted that short, pointed public lines often shape how a visit is read by markets and audiences even when detailed agreements remain under negotiation. In this case, commentators flagged three immediate takeaways from the public portion of the meeting: the prominence of energy in US messaging to Ankara; the centrality of defence procurement to Erdoğan’s agenda; and the presence of economic pressure including high inflation at home as an underlying factor in Türkiye‘s diplomatic approach.
Full texts and video of the public remarks are available from official White House releases and from the press pools; more detailed outcomes, including any formal agreements or waiver decisions, are expected to be recorded in subsequent diplomatic notes and formal announcements.