U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly flaunted his close ties with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan while publicly criticizing NATO allies that refused to provide the support he demanded.
Trump's transactional diplomacy, which prioritizes personal rapport between leaders and immediate cooperation over long-standing alliances or institutional commitments, has once again come into sharp focus.
President Trump held a bilateral meeting with President Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit held in Ankara, Turkey, on the 7th (local time).
Ahead of the meeting, President Trump praised President Erdogan, saying, "We are very good friends," and, "We hit it off from the beginning and have had a very special relationship."
He continued, "Everything has worked out very well because of the relationship I have with President Erdogan," adding, "I respect President Erdogan, and I believe this relationship is beneficial to both countries."
When asked by a reporter why their relationship is so special, he replied, "You never know why a relationship is special," adding, "We just have a chemistry that works well."
Notably, during this bilateral meeting, President Trump announced that he would consider selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.
Turkey was excluded from the F-35 program in 2019 after acquiring the S-400 system despite U.S. opposition, and it became subject to U.S. sanctions the following year.
President Trump's remarks are interpreted as a move to effectively reverse the measures he took during his first term.
President Trump and President Erdogan have repeatedly clashed and reconciled since his first term.
In 2018, when Turkey detained American evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson on charges of involvement in terrorism and a coup attempt, the Trump administration sanctioned Turkish ministers and increased tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Although bilateral relations were pushed to the brink of collapse, Pastor Brunson was released in October of that year.
During this meeting, President Trump cited this incident as an example demonstrating the special relationship between the two.
On the other hand, President Trump publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who had been considered an ally until recently.
President Trump stated that Prime Minister Meloni did not support the U.S. regarding the Strait of Hormuz and the Iran issue, saying, "She did not stand by us, and I was unhappy about that."
The improvement in relations with President Erdogan could also lead to a rift with another ally, Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he had conveyed his opposition to President Trump several times, arguing that selling F-35s to Turkey would upset the balance of power in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Netanyahu criticized Turkey, stating it "cannot be seen as an exemplary ally of the United States," and argued that providing advanced fighter jets to a regime that only smiles at the U.S. and its president when it is convenient would lead to aggressive behavior.
Reported by JIN Sang-myeong | Video by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Produced by SBS Digital News
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