Trump says Turkey will not get F-35s

President Trump said today the United States will no longer sell Turkey the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter because of the latter country's purchase of a Russian-made missile system.

"We are now telling Turkey . . . we're not going to sell you the F-35 fighter jets," Trump told reporters at the White House.

Turkey's decision to purchase the S-400 missile system now puts Russian technology within the borders of a NATO nation and threatens to further increase tensions with the United States.

The U.S. government is concerned that co-existence of the two systems in Turkey will expose Russian engineers to too much information about the F-35.

"It's a very tough situation that they're in. And it's a very tough situation that we've been placed in the United States," he said. "With all of that being said, we're working through it. We'll see what happens, but it's not really fair."

Earlier, Army Secretary Mark Esper, who has been nominated to become defense secretary, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Turkey’s decision to buy the S-400 is "disappointing."

"You can either have the S-400 or the F-35 -- you cannot have both," Esper said. "Turkey has been a long-standing NATO ally. It is very disheartening to see how they've drifted."