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The U.S. envoy to Türkiye described Thursday's meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "epic" and "historic," praising both leaders' conduct during their more than two-hour discussion at the White House.
"Epic, epic. Yeah, I mean, you should be so proud of your president. President Erdogan conducted himself like the man that he is," Tom Barrack, U.S. envoy to Türkiye and special representative for Syria, told reporters outside the White House after the meeting concluded.
Following his U.S. visit for the U.N. General Assembly's 80th session, President Erdogan returned to Türkiye on Friday, landing at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport at 7:45 a.m. local time.
Barrack characterized the encounter as "better than great," emphasizing the mutual understanding between the two leaders despite their different backgrounds.
"The team is first class, blended perfectly on all the issues with the U.S. team," Barrack said.
"President Trump was graceful, kind, understanding, and strong on the issues that they need to talk to. They're both very strong men," he added.
The envoy expressed optimism about the outcomes, stating he was "privileged to be able to sit in the room" during the discussions, which included a working lunch following the Oval Office talks.
On Syria, Barrack emphasized U.S. support for the new administration while acknowledging Western concerns about trusting the transitional government.
"The Western world is saying, 'How can you have a fundamentalist who is wearing guerrilla fatigues and shows up one day and says, 'Now I'm a statesman and I have a Tom Ford suit?' Well, you can. Nelson Mandela did the same thing," Barrack said.
He stressed the importance of regional support for Syria's transition, noting that "the U.S. is saying, 'We support him because we're removing sanctions.'"
When asked about Syria's political structure, Barrack strongly advocated for a unified government rather than sectarian divisions.
"None of these fractured federalisms or confessionalisms have worked anywhere. Look at Lebanon. It's chaos," he said, also citing Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of failed divided governance systems.
He argued that Syria needs "a unified entity" that can provide autonomy to different groups while maintaining central authority, allowing "the Druze can have their own religion, their own clothing, their own education, even their own regional security force. The same with the Kurds."
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Barrack emphasized that ending the Gaza conflict remains critical for regional stability.
"Gaza has to end. Nothing. It's the 10,000-pound gorilla. Until Gaza ends, everybody's confused," he stated. When pressed on what "end" means, he clarified: "That means stop the senseless killing. Now you have two different views as to how does that get done. Everybody agrees, we have to stop the killing."
He indicated both Trump and Erdogan were aligned on the need to end the Gaza crisis.
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