Don’t reward Turkey’s treacherous Erdogan with these fighter jets

President Donald Trump is rolling out the red carpet for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday — a victory for the autocrat, who spent years unsuccessfully begging for an audience with then-President Joe Biden.

Erdogan is finally getting his moment, but make no mistake: He isn’t coming to Washington for polite handshakes and photo-ops.

He’s coming with a shopping list — and topping it is America’s crown jewel fighter jet, the F-35.

But US law bans him from getting it. And Trump must slam the door shut.

Back in 2019, Turkey spat in Trump’s face when it bought Russia’s S-400 air and missile defense system.

The Kremlin designed those missiles to track and shoot down the very F-35s Erdogan now wants.

Washington warned him, Congress begged him, NATO allies pleaded with him.

Erdogan ignored everyone, hugged Moscow and proudly rolled out his shiny new Russian toys.

The penalty was clear and swift: Turkey was expelled from the F-35 program.

That December, Congress passed into US law Section 1245 of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, which explicitly forbids the transfer of F-35s or related tech to Ankara. That law remains in effect.

Now, six years later, Erdogan is hoping to charm or bully Trump into looking the other way.

His pitch? Russia is running low on missiles thanks to its disastrous war in Ukraine, and wants its S-400s back.

Erdogan proposes returning them — and waltzing back into the F-35 club in exchange.

Nice try.

Even if Erdogan dumps his Russian weapons, America shouldn’t reward his double-dealing.

Let’s be blunt. Selling Erdogan our most advanced fighter jet would mean arming a state sponsor of terrorism.

He is not some misunderstood ally gone astray, but an Islamist strongman who bankrolls and shelters Hamas.

After Hamas’ blood-soaked Oct 7 massacre of Israelis, Americans and others — the worst single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust — Erdogan didn’t recoil in disgust. He embraced Hamas even tighter.

His regime handed Turkish passports and safe havens to Hamas leaders like Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal.

When Haniyeh was killed in Tehran last summer, Erdogan declared a national day of mourning and lowered flags at Turkish embassies around the world — including in Tel Aviv.

That is not the act of an ally. That is the behavior of an enemy hiding behind NATO membership.

Moreover, if given the F-35, Erdogan could use these highly advanced jets to menace US allies in Europe and the Mediterranean.

He has already rattled sabers at Greece, another NATO member, by pushing his so-called “Blue Homeland” doctrine — an aggressive scheme to seize Greek waters and islands recognized by international law.

In recent months he has threatened Athens with ballistic missiles and demanded Greece demilitarize its own islands. Imagine what he could do with a fleet of stealth jets.

Cyprus is another victim: Turkey still illegally occupies a third of the island, and this year Ankara even threatened Nicosia with “dangerous consequences” after it purchased Israeli air defense systems.

Erdogan buying Russian missiles was bad enough — threatening to punish neighbors for buying Israeli ones shows the depths of his hypocrisy.

And then there’s Syria. Since 2016, Turkey has launched three invasions aimed squarely at the Syrian Democratic Forces, America’s most loyal and effective partner in the fight against ISIS.

Just this month, Ankara threatened the SDF with fresh attacks — so handing Erdogan F-35s would put US partners in Syria squarely in his crosshairs.

Erdogan’s apologists like to say Turkey was once an important ally. True.

But that Turkey is gone.

Under Erdogan’s Islamist rule, Ankara is a destabilizing force — cozy with Hamas, flirtatious with Moscow and aggressive toward America’s real allies.

Trump must not fall for Erdogan’s bait-and-switch.

The F-35 isn’t just another plane: It’s the world’s most advanced stealth fighter, a weapon designed to keep America and its friends one step ahead of China, Russia and Iran.

Giving that edge to a leader who praises terrorists, bullies allies and plays footsie with Moscow would be a betrayal of US interests.

The law is clear. The stakes are higher. And Erdogan’s record speaks for itself.

So when Erdogan sits across from Trump in the Oval Office and slides over his list of demands, the president’s only answer should be a blunt one: No.

Sinan Ciddi is director of the Turkey program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, where William Doran is an intern.