Trump presses Erdoğan to curb Russian oil imports in Oval Office meeting

President Donald Trump pressed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to stop buying Russian oil during a Thursday meeting in the Oval Office, delivering the message to reporters as Erdoğan sat nearby and days after the two leaders participated in the United Nations General Assembly. The encounter underscored a moment of public diplomacy that combined energy pressure with personal pleasantries and a display of lingering tensions over Turkey’s militarary purchases and governance.

“This is a guy who's highly opinionated. Usually I don't like opinionated people but I always liked this one, he's a tough one and he does an amazing job with his country,” Trump said, describing Erdoğan as they stood before assembled journalists. He added that the two leaders have had “tremendous relationships, both having to do with war and having to do with trade,” and that their talks would address both topics.

I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage against Ukraine,” Trump bluntly told reporters, speaking in Erdoğan’s presence. The Turkish president, who has led the country as prime minister and then president for 22 years, did not immediately respond through his translator as Trump spoke.

The exchange came as Erdoğan traveled to Washington hoping for relief on a separate, long-standing dispute: the fate of Turkey’s ambitions to purchase U.S. military aircraft. Erdoğan has sought to lift a ban on buying F-35 fighter jets from the United States, a restriction put in place during Trump’s first term after Turkey’s 2019 purchase of a Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile system. U.S. officials argued the Russian system could compromise the secrecy and vulnerabilities of the F-35 program, potentially exposing sensitive information to Moscow.

Trump’s response to the jet issue was to dangle the possibility of an arms deal, telling reporters outside the West Wing that “you’ll find out” if an agreement could be reached. He wore an F-35 lapel pin during the Erdoğan meeting, signaling a willingness to engage on the issue even as he signaled broad caution on Russia-related actions. “He needs certain things, and we need certain things, and we’re going to come to a conclusion,” Trump said. “You’ll know by the end of the day.”

Erdoğan had arrived in Washington seeking concessions on Ankara’s relationship with Moscow and to secure platforms the Turkish military views as essential to modernizing its fleet. The two leaders have touted an extensive history together, and Trump has frequently highlighted the personal ties he says he shares with Erdoğan. Yet the remarks also reflected a broader U.S. skepticism about Turkey’s alignment on security matters, especially given Turkey’s NATO membership and its ongoing tensions with European allies over democratic norms and regional policy.

The emphasis on Russia came as Washington and its Western partners have faced pressure to reduce global energy dependence on Moscow amid Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump argued that Western European countries still do business with Russia and that the United States should tread carefully in imposing further sanctions while European economies remained reliant on Russian oil and gas. The comment underscored a key area where U.S. policy diverges from some European partners, even as the administration maintains support for Ukraine and its territorial integrity.

Trump’s remarks at the White House followed public attention to his rhetoric at the United Nations General Assembly, where he continued to frame the conflict in Ukraine as a broader test of Western unity and deterrence. In New York, he held talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a meeting that contrasted with his Oval Office exchange with Erdoğan in tone and emphasis. Trump suggested that Ukraine could regain its territories with the help of European Union members and NATO allies, while in Washington signaling a willingness to exert leverage on Turkey over Russia-related energy purchases.

The meeting also touched on what Trump described as a long-running friendship with Erdoğan, including a quip about the Turkish leader’s perceived familiarity with “rigged elections.” “You know, he knows about rigged elections better than anybody. But when I was in exile, we were still friends,” Trump told reporters, referencing the period after his 2020 campaign when he often cast doubt on the integrity of voting processes. Turkish officials have sought to present Erdoğan as a decisive, steady partner in a volatile region, and the Oval Office visit was framed by both sides as a demonstration of continued strategic cooperation on issues ranging from defense procurement to regional security.

Erdoğan’s visit to Washington, which followed high-profile appearances at the U.N. General Assembly, put a spotlight on Turkey’s balancing act between East and West. Ankara has sought to expand its regional influence while navigating U.S. concerns about Russia, Syria, and NATO alliance dynamics. The administration in Washington has used public diplomacy to press Ankara on issues from energy, defense procurement, and human rights to Ankara’s posture toward Ukraine and the broader energy landscape in Europe. Trump’s public exchanges with Erdoğan reflected both a personal rapport and a transactional approach to diplomacy, with a ready appetite for tying concessions to tangible outcomes on issues Turkish officials say are existential, like airpower and regional security.

Observers noted that the Oval Office encounter came at a time of continued renegotiation over military technology and interoperability, and amid domestic debates about how aggressively to confront Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine. While the White House signaled openness to discussions with Turkey about defense platforms, it also signaled continued insistence that Turkey maintain alignment with U.S. and Western security standards, including the need to avoid measures that could undermine the Western alliance’s military advantage in the region.

As the next steps unfold, the dynamic between Washington and Ankara remains a critical axis in the approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the broader contest over energy security in Europe. The Thursday meeting did not immediately yield a comprehensive policy shift, but it did lay bare a public display of leverage, accommodation, and political theater that continues to shape the U.S.-Turkey relationship in a volatile regional landscape.