My take on this whole power / thrust thing
Any powerplant can do work, and the rate that it does so is power. Any power plant can deliver a driving force. Theres nothing special about torque, its just the rotational equivalent of a force.
When it comes to an aircraft power plant, the issue is: How does its behaviour vary with speed.
With the engines throttle/ thrust/ rpm lever/s etc left alone it is a simple approximation to view Propellor engined aircraft as having roughly constant power output with regards to speed. Similarly, Jet engines can be viewed as having roughly constant thrust output with regards to speed.
Both produce power, both produce thrust. Its simply a case of what is a simple way to visualise the engine in question.
Unfortunately the 'sound bite' for this is "Jet engines produce thrust. Propeller engines produces power"
As you can see, a few words too many have been taken out
"When you vary speed, jet engines produce approximately constant Thrust, propeller engines produce approximately constant power."
The other factor with powerplants is producing instrumentation. Measuring thrust for a prop isn't that simple. Measuring torque is a bit easier. Measuring RPM easier still. For a jet, measuring thrust is practical (via EPR).
pb