WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump is considering how to respond to Turkey's decision to accept a Russian missile-defense system, which has divided the two NATO allies and fueled outrage in Congress, according to senators who met with him Tuesday.
Trump is "frustrated by what he sees as a lack of options" after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan begin receiving parts for the Russian-made S-400 system, said John Cornyn, one of more than 40 GOP senators who met with Trump at the White House.
"Turkey has been an increasingly problematic country with Erdogan becoming more authoritarian, imprisoning members of the press and committing human right violations," Cornyn said.
Trump said last week that he wasn't looking at economic sanctions against Turkey "right now." The U.S. has suspended Turkey's ability to buy and help build F-35 fighter jets. Turkey planned purchases of about 100 of the F-35s.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said the lawmakers generally agree that Turkey's relationship with the U.S. is important.
"But at the same time that it is utterly inconsistent for Turkey to have deployed both the S-400 Russian missile defense system and the F-35," he said. "And the senators there expressed a strong sentiment that the president should continue to press Erdogan to step back from implementing the S-400."
Cruz said the discussion was more focused on the broad objectives of getting Turkey to pull back than specific steps the U.S. should take.
The White House declined to comment on the meeting.
Under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or CAATSA, the U.S. is required to impose penalties on Turkey over the missile-defense move. The law doesn't say how quickly the president has to put those sanctions in place, however.
The U.S. says the Russian air defense system is designed to shoot down NATO aircraft and can collect critical intelligence that could compromise stealth capabilities of the F-35.
