Trump jokes that Turkey’s president ‘knows about rigged elections’

Donald Trump found himself in another awkward Oval Office moment during a meeting with Tayyip Erdogan.

The US president praised his Turkish counterpart, calling him a ‘very tough man’ and telling reporters they remained close while his predecessor Joe Biden was in office.

He said: ‘We’ve been friends for a long time, actually even for four years when I was in exile, unfairly, as it turns out, rigged election.’

But he then went slightly off-piste with his remarks, adding: ‘You know, he knows about rigged elections better than anybody.’

Erdogan remained stone-faced as Trump continued: ‘But when I was in exile, we were still friends. That’s always a good way to find out. Test of friendship.

‘But he’s a highly respected man, he is respected very much in his country and all throughout Europe and throughout the world where they know him.

‘He’s built a tremendous military, powerful military. He uses a lot of our equipment, and it’s an honour to have him.’

Trump said his two hours of talks with Erdogan were ‘very conclusive’ on a variety of issues but offered no further details about an announcement he said would be made later.

The pair discussed the purchase of Russian oil, the sale of advanced American F-35 jets and ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump has been pressing European nations to stop purchases of Russian oil in exchange for his agreement to impose tough sanctions on Moscow.

Frustrated by Russia’s refusal to halt the fighting, Trump this week in a major shift said it was possible Ukraine could reclaim all the territory it has lost to Russia.

Asked if Turkey will stop purchasing Russian oil, Trump sounded confident.

‘I believe he will stop it, yeah. You know why? Because he can buy it from a lot of other people,’ Trump said of Erdogan.

Ankara is keen to leverage the friendly personal relationship with Trump to further national interests and take advantage of a US administration eager to make deals in return for big-ticket arms and trade agreements.

When Trump and Erdogan took questions from reporters during their meeting, Trump sounded willing to make a deal to sell the F-35s.

‘I think he’ll be successful in buying the things that he wants to buy,’ Trump said.

Trump also said he could lift sanctions against Turkey ‘very soon’, and that ‘if we have a good meeting, almost immediately’.

Trump and Erdogan – both seen as increasingly autocratic by their critics at home – had a checkered relationship during the Republican president’s first term.

But since Trump’s return to the White House, their interests have aligned on Syria – the source of the biggest bilateral strain in the past – where the US and Turkey now both strongly back the central government.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.