Expectations had been running high on the Turkish side before the Thursday meeting at the White House between Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and US President Donald Trump, and both men left suggesting they had scored wins.

The talks covered trade, defense sales and regional conflicts, with Trump describing the meeting as “very conclusive in so many different things” and indicating he could lift sanctions tied to Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 air defense system in 2017, which triggered US penalties in 2020 under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). Erdogan advanced his push to rejoin the US-led F-35 program, while a Boeing deal for Turkish Airlines — including up to 75 787 Dreamliners and plans for up to 150 737 MAX jets — was finalized after the talks on Friday, reflecting Ankara’s broader ambitions in defense and aviation. 

Yet progress faces notable limits. Experts told Al-Monitor that Erdogan could play a role for Trump in Ukraine by leveraging his ties with Moscow and potentially exert influence over regional actors in Gaza, but Turkey’s close ties with Hamas make it implausible for Ankara to serve as a mediator in that conflict. 

Regarding Syria, US and Turkish interests are somewhat aligned in the aftermath of the civil war. But flare-ups in Latakia and Suwayda, along with Ankara’s ongoing tensions with US-backed Kurdish groups, underscore the fragility of that progress. On trade and defense, agreements are still contingent on negotiations, regulatory approvals and congressional oversight, meaning that even high-profile deals like the F-16 sale face hurdles before they are fully realized.