US President Donald Trump has highlighted his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying he does not expect tensions between Türkiye and Israel and stressing what he described as a strong personal rapport with the Turkish leader.
“He is a very good friend of mine, and we have worked together very well. I love him. He is a great leader and a very strong person,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday when asked about Erdogan during an Oval Office appearance following a signing ceremony on domestic security.
Responding to a question from an Israeli journalist on whether a conflict could arise between Israel and Türkiye, Trump dismissed the prospect and said he would intervene if necessary.
“I have not heard of anything like that. If I did, I would call him and make sure everything was fine. I don’t think anything like that will happen with Türkiye,” he said.
“He respects me, and I respect him. Beyond that, we have a good friendship.”
Iran
Turning to Iran, Trump said the United States would continue strikes following what he described as an attack on a US Apache helicopter, which he said Tehran had acknowledged downing.
When asked whether Washington would continue military action against Iran, Trump was unequivocal.
“We will attack them, and very hard,” he said.
“If you look at the helicopter attack, I think we have the right to do it. We dealt them a very hard blow yesterday, and today we will deliver another very hard blow.”
"We'll see what happens with the deal. We were really close to a deal, but they keep tapping us along; they keep playing us for suckers," he said.
Trump also claimed the US has been "taking out millions of barrels of oil" in a series of covert actions during the war, suggesting the end goal has been to stabilise global market prices.
"Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran, until right now. We took out, the other night, 22 ships late at night with no lights, because they don't have any radar, because we blasted the crap out of them," he said.
"We took that. That's why oil is $85 a barrel."
US-Mexico-Canada Agreement
Trump said he is not seeking to renew the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which he signed during his first term.
“I’m not looking to renew it,” Trump told reporters when asked about the North American trade pact.
He said the agreement’s termination mechanism was one of the main reasons he supported replacing NAFTA with USMCA during his first term.
Trump described NAFTA as “the worst trade deal” the US had ever signed and said the USMCA was “a much better deal”, largely because it gave Washington the right to reconsider the agreement after six years.
“After six years, it comes up for renewal. I don’t know that I’m going to renew it,” he said.
Trump said the US “does much better” without relying on goods from Canada and Mexico, arguing both countries need access to the US market more than Washington needs their exports.
“We don’t need their cars; we don’t need their lumber; we don’t need their energy,” he said, adding that the US should have trade surpluses with both countries rather than deficits.
