WASHINGTON 

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will discuss the potential sale of American fighter jets during bilateral talks, and hinted that defense industry sanctions could soon be lifted.

Trump said he would have a "big" and wide-ranging discussion with Erdogan addressing trade, and would be making "some great trade deals for both countries." The two will also discuss regional issues and the sale of the fighter jets.

"They want to buy F-16, F-35s and some other things, and we're going to talk to them about that. And we're just going to have, I think, a very interesting couple of hours. We're going to get a lot done. But I have great respect for this man, and we've had a very good relationship for a long time," Trump told reporters ahead of the closed-door discussions.

Asked about lifting Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions that were imposed on Türkiye in 2020, Trump hinted that the penalties could be removed in the extreme near-term.

"Could be very soon, if we have a good meeting, almost immediately," Trump said.

CAATSA sanctions were imposed on Ankara during Trump's first term over Türkiye's decision to purchase Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system despite objections from the US administration.

Trump and Erdogan were scheduled to meet in the Oval Office for 30 minutes before heading into a working lunch in the Cabinet Room, though the timing is subject to how the talks play out.

Trump lauded his Turkish counterpart, calling Erdogan "a highly respected man. He's respected very much in his country and all throughout Europe and throughout the world where they know him."

"He's built a tremendous military, powerful military; uses a lot of our equipment, and it's an honor to have him at the White House," he said.

The US president further said both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "really respect" Erdogan, whom he said is "very neutral" in the ongoing conflict, now in its fourth year.

On Syria, Trump said Erdogan "is the one responsible for" ousting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, but said the Turkish president "doesn't take the responsibility, but it's actually a great achievement." He credited Erdogan with being "one of the people responsible for" his decision to lift biting US sanctions on Syria.

"They couldn't have lived with those sanctions. And I took them off to give them a chance to breathe," he said.