Trump OUTSMARTS Congress — What He GAINED

U.S. Capitol building illuminated at dusk.

A $700 million jet engine deal with Turkey has reopened the fight over who really controls Washington’s war powers — your elected Congress, or unelected foreign policy insiders.^[3]

Story Snapshot

The Trump State Department moved ahead with a $700 million jet engine sale to Turkey over a key lawmaker’s objections.^[3]
Representative Gregory Meeks says the administration bypassed normal review and shut Congress out of key security briefings.^[1]
Turkey still holds a Russian S-400 air defense system, raising real worries about U.S. technology and NATO security.^[3]
The deal shows how a long‑standing arms sales system leaves Congress with almost no real power to stop risky exports.^[2]

Trump, Turkey, and a $700 Million Showdown

The Trump administration is pressing ahead with a plan to sell about $700–$750 million worth of United States‑made F‑110 jet engines to Turkey for its new KAAN fighter jet, even after the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee put a formal hold on the deal.^[3] Representative Gregory Meeks says the State Department told him it would “once again bypass” congressional review and move straight to formal notification, breaking with long‑standing practice of getting key lawmakers’ approval first.^[1]

Representative Meeks argues the administration did not invoke any emergency authority, did not give a written reason, and refused for months to brief him on how the sale affects the United States‑Turkey relationship and regional security.^[1] Under informal rules that have worked for decades, the chair and ranking member of the foreign affairs committees in the House and Senate must sign off before large arms deals move forward.^[3] This time, the executive branch signaled it would override the hold and treat the usual consultation as optional.^[3]

Why Turkey’s Russian Missiles Have Washington Worried

The immediate sticking point is Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian S‑400 air defense system, which it bought about ten years ago and still has in service.^[3] Congress has already barred Turkey from rejoining the F‑35 fighter jet program unless it removes the S‑400 and promises not to buy similar Russian systems that could spy on United States aircraft technology.^[6] Congressional aides say Meeks also paused the engine sale over concerns about Turkey’s behavior in Syria, tensions with Greece, and Turkish warplanes flying to Cyprus.^[3]

Critics fear that selling advanced jet engines into this environment may help Turkey build a powerful homegrown fighter fleet while it still operates Russian systems that could track, test, and learn from United States technology.^[3] Meeks has pressed the administration for a technical risk assessment but says his repeated requests for information on policy and security were ignored.^[1] Without that detailed review in public or classified form, lawmakers argue that the sale could undercut hard‑won leverage Congress used to protect the F‑35 program from Russian exposure.^[6]

How the Arms Sales System Sidelines Your Representatives

The deeper story reaches beyond Turkey. A recent Congressional Research Service analysis shows that since the Arms Export Control Act took effect in 1978, Congress has never successfully blocked an arms sale using the law’s main tool, a joint resolution of disapproval.^[2] Even if both chambers pass such a resolution, the President can veto it, and Congress has never reached the two‑thirds supermajority needed to override a veto on an arms sale.^[2]

The Trump administration is advancing a $700 million jet engine sale to Turkey, marking a significant development in ongoing military cooperation and regional arms deals. https://t.co/1N5f9jEUdr

— The Media Line (@TheMediaLine) June 26, 2026

The report also explains that the President can declare an emergency and waive normal notification and review windows entirely, turning what should be 15‑ or 30‑day pauses into optional delays.^[2] Lawmakers can still try to use other bills or funding riders to stop a sale, but that process is slow and hard to win. Together, these rules give the executive branch a built‑in advantage and make congressional “oversight” look more like a formality than a real check, especially when administrations decide they are tired of hearing “no” from Capitol Hill.^[7]

Debate on Strategy, Allies, and American Priorities

Supporters of the Turkey deal say it is a needed gesture to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally hosting a summit in Ankara, and that strengthening Turkey’s own fighter jet program will help spread defense burdens away from the United States.^[3] They note that Turkey has one of the strongest defense industries in the alliance and argue that keeping Ankara close can offset Russian influence. Critics counter that real allies do not hold on to Russian systems that threaten United States jets and then demand more high‑end hardware anyway.^[6]

For conservatives, the fight raises two clashing instincts. On one side is the desire to back strong allies and avoid micro‑managing warfighters from Capitol Hill. On the other side is the bedrock belief that only Congress, not unelected bureaucrats, should decide when and how American weapons flow overseas. The Turkey engine sale sits right at that line. It is lawful under today’s rules, but those rules themselves may be tilted too far toward the executive branch and the defense industry, and not far enough toward the voters’ representatives who are supposed to guard American power and treasure.^[2]