Newsletters
U.S. President Donald Trump described President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a "tough cookie" and revealed that NATO allies routinely ask him to intervene when they struggle to communicate with the Turkish President, according to an interview published Tuesday.
When asked, "Are there countries in NATO that you think shouldn’t be in the alliance?" Trump answered by saying, "I mean, there are countries that are difficult for NATO. Not that they shouldn’t be. I think it’s good to have them. Türkiye's an example."
"Erdogan is a friend of mine. Whenever they have a problem with Erdogan, they ask me to call because they can’t speak to him," Trump told Politico's Dasha Burns at the White House.
"He’s a tough cookie. I actually like him a lot," the U.S. President added.
Trump characterized his relationship with Erdogan as uniquely productive within the NATO alliance, asserting he can resolve disputes that other leaders cannot.
"I think, actually, you know, look, he’s built a strong country, strong military. But they have a hard time dealing with him, and they ask me to call him. And I do call him, and I always work it out with him," Trump said.
"You know, he and I work it out right ... really quickly," he added.
"We had some people that he released that were taken and going through years and years of court cases and everything else. And I said, you know, you gotta release ’em and he did," Trump said.
"He ... he is uh, you know, very different than a lot of uh, the other leaders, but they have a hard time with him. But you know, they shouldn’t really have a hard time with him," he concluded.
2 min read
