President Donald J. Trump participates in a bilateral meeting with President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the G20 Japan Summit Saturday, June 29, 2019, in Osaka, Japan. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour)
At the Unz Review, Ron Unz mildly criticizes Donald Trump for the President’s relationship with Recep Tayip Erdogan, the President of Turkey. Unz writes:
In his 2017 and 2025 inaugural addresses, President Donald Trump pledged to “Put America first.”
His 2017-2021 term, however, put Turkey and Turkish President Erdogan first. And his second term is looking even worse.
In Trump’s Turkish Problem (2022), I cautioned the would-be candidate to “ditch his Turkish investments, Turkish-tainted cronies, and Turkish fixation … in his and America’s best interests.”
Besides being nakedly corrupt and repressive, Turkey’s rogue regime has cozied up to Moscow and supported ISIS, al-Qaeda offshoot Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and other terrorist organizations.
Hardly a day goes by when Erdogan isn’t throwing a temper tantrum, concocting outlandish demands, or threatening NATO members.
Yet somehow Trump’s a “big fan” of Turkey’s president. Erdogan “does things the right way.”
Corruption, repression, incessant threats, and supporting terrorism are “the right way”?
I’m “very close to [Erdogan],” Trump once declared. Way too close, actually.
His flattery of Erdogan has been a national embarrassment and has accomplished nothing.
Unfortunately, Trump admits to liking “tough guy” foreign leaders. That is, unsavory autocrats such as Erdogan.
Erdogan’s “tough, but I get along with him. And maybe that’s a bad thing, but I think it’s a really good thing.” And you thought Pres. Biden was confused.
All American presidents and top European leaders have for decades let Turkey intimidate them. Consequently, they’ve needlessly kowtowed to Turkey. But Trump takes the cake.
How contrary to American interests — and humiliating — was Trump’s Turkish record in his first term?
And no, I’m not a Trump hater.
Trump’s Terrible Turkish Resumé, in Brief
Trump’s Conflicts of Interest and Turkish Agents
Trump’s self-acknowledged “little conflict of interest” regarding Turkey isn’t little.Istanbul’s Trump Towers/Mall naming rights, for instance, have yielded him $10+ million.
Mehmet Ali Yalcindag, Trump’s partner in that venture, chaired the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAIK).
Yalcindag brokered contacts between Berat Albayrak (Erdogan’s corruption-riddled son-in-law) and Jared Kushner (Trump’s son-in-law/Middle East adviser).
TAIK employed (2013-2020) DC’s Mercury Public Affairs as its registered Turkish agent. Mercury also hired Trump’s communications sage, Bryan Lanza, to represent Ankara.
Another Turkish agent: Ballard Partners, headed by top Trump fundraiser Brian Ballard. It maintains an Istanbul office.
Trump even engaged Turkish designer Dorya Int’l to manufacture the “ultra-luxe” Trump Home® line.
Trump’s Silence after Erdogan’s Capital Rampage
After his White House meeting on May 16, 2017, Erdogan ordered his bodyguards to attack peaceful protesters outside his ambassador’s residence.The mostly American demonstrators were bloodied. A number were hospitalized, and a policeman was injured. Elsewhere in DC, Erdogan’s retinue pummeled several U.S. Secret Service officers.
Yet the administration permitted Erdogan and his thugs to immediately return to Turkey.
Though the U.S. House demanded prosecutions, only in August did the Department of Justice charge Erdogan’s bodyguards.
But the DOJ then shamelessly dropped the charges one day before Secretary of State Tillerson visited Ankara in 2018.
Read more here.
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