World
Trump claims he stopped ‘great leader’ Erdogan from bringing Turkey into war on Iran’s side
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who he suggested could have entered the war on the side of Iran because he doesn’t like Israel.
“He was a prime candidate to go into the war with Iran — maybe on the Iran side, because he’s not a big fan of Israel,” Trump claimed, even though Turkey gave no indication that it was preparing to enter the US-Israel war against Iran and even came under Iranian fire at one point.
“I asked him to stay out. He stayed out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“Erdogan is a great leader, a very strong person… Everything I’ve ever asked from him, he’s done.”
The remarks from Trump came as Erdogan and other senior Turkish officials have recently ramped up threats against the Jewish state, with Turkey’s interior minister calling earlier this month for the country to “liberate” Jerusalem.
Erdogan, who has long been a vociferous critic of Israel, stated days later that Israeli “aggression” posed a threat to the whole world and must be stopped, as he claimed Israeli strikes in Lebanon and Syria were a threat to Turkey.
While Israel’s relations with Turkey, which were once the Jewish state’s strongest with any country in the region, have drastically deteriorated following Erdogan’s rise to power, they have been particularly strained since the start of the Gaza war sparked by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.
Trump was also asked Wednesday whether he was preparing a major “gift bag” of weapons sales for Turkey ahead of an upcoming NATO summit there, including F-35 stealth fighters and dozens of jet engines.
“I think so, look… I’m going to probably do something that’s going to make him very happy,” Trump said.
Pressed on what specifically needs to happen for the F-35 sale to go through, Trump punted the question to Vice President JD Vance.
“There are certain things that we have to certify that have happened in order to comply with American law. The president has asked us to do that… so they can get the F-35s… This is really a congressional thing,” Vance said before Trump chimes in, insisting that the issue would be sorted out.
The F-35 fighter jet, a top-of-the-line stealth plane, was originally developed by the United States in partnership with other NATO countries under a program called the Joint Strike Fighter. However, the United States booted Turkey from development of the F-35 in 2019 after the NATO ally went ahead with purchases of the S-400 missile defense from Russia.
US law does not permit Turkey to operate or possess the S-400 system if it wishes to rejoin the F-35 program. However, US Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack said in December that the warm relationship between Trump and Erdogan helped the two sides hold “the most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
