President Trump isn’t afraid to mix it up during diplomatic visits. He won’t back down on behalf of the United States.
And chaos erupted during an Oval Office meeting after Donald Trump slams this foreign leader to his face.
President Trump took a stand against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, calling him out for ignoring America’s demands that NATO allies cut off Russian oil purchases and starve Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.
Standing firm in front of reporters, Trump made it clear that Erdogan’s so-called neutrality in the bloodiest European fight since World War II wasn’t cutting it anymore.
“I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues his rampage against Ukraine,” Trump stated. “[Moscow has] lost millions of lives already, and for what? You know, for what? Disgraceful.”
Trump didn’t hold back, outlining plans to dive into talks on the Ukraine mess and trade ties, all while pushing Ankara to ditch its dependence on Russian energy and stand with the West.
Erdogan kept a poker face through Trump’s direct challenge, offering a vague reply via a translator: “I believe in the peace efforts that President Trump is leading, and together we will be able to overcome the challenges in the region.”
Trump hammered home his point from earlier in the week, blasting Russia’s crumbling economy and the senseless slaughter.
“[Russia’s] economy is absolutely terrible right now. And I think it’s — I think it’s a shame that they’re doing that, k*lling a lot of people unnecessarily. 7,818 people were k*lled last week, mostly military people,” Trump declared.
“It’s such a waste of human life, and so he ought to stop. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin ought to stop,” he added.
Highlighting Erdogan’s past role in hosting Russia-Ukraine talks, Trump suggested the Turkish president could tip the scales if he chose to get serious about peace.
Turkey has played both sides, cozying up to Moscow while claiming ties to Kyiv, a move that’s raised eyebrows.
“Right now, he’s very neutral. He likes being neutral, so do I — I like being neutral. But he’s somebody that, if he got involved, the best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia,” Trump stated. “If he did, if he did that, that would be probably the best thing.”
“He knows Putin, like I know Putin,” Trump noted.
As a NATO member since 1952, Turkey stands out as the alliance’s biggest friend to Russia. Data from the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air shows Ankara snapping up about a quarter of Moscow’s oil product exports from 2022 to 2024 – more than any other single buyer.
In comparison, China grabbed 12% of those oil products, with Brazil at 11%, but Turkey’s hunger for Russian fuel doesn’t stop there – it’s the fifth-biggest buyer of Russian coal and fourth for liquified natural gas, trailing the EU, China, Japan, and South Korea.
Ties run even deeper into nuclear power, as a 2024 Carnegie Endowment report points out Russia’s building Turkey’s first plant and training scores of Turkish engineers and techs in the process – all while America watches its adversary gain ground.
Trump’s surprise turnaround this week, claiming Kyiv could reclaim every inch of land thanks to Russia’s economic woes, ramps up the heat after his failed push for a Putin-Zelensky sit-down after the August 15 Alaska summit.
Once urging Zelensky to cut deals and give up territory, Trump now rallies allies to slash Russian energy buys and tighten the noose on Moscow.
His tough moves extend beyond Turkey – last month, he jacked up tariffs on India from 25% to 50% to punish the second-biggest importer of Russian crude oil, which takes 38% of exports behind China’s 47%.
