President Donald Trump commented today (Wednesday) on the escalating tensions between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, praising the Turkish leader. “I love Erdoğan, he’s great,” Trump said. “Bibi said some harsh things about Turkey yesterday, but thanks to me, Erdoğan stayed out of the war.”
Earlier, Trump also addressed the Iranian threat against him, following reports that his name appears on Tehran’s “kill lists”: “I saw this morning that I appear on all their assassination lists. They are a cancer, and we need to get this tumor out quickly. These are scum of a person, we wasted our time with them, they have no idea what they are doing,” he said sharply.
Trump also used the stage to sharply criticize European members of the alliance, especially Spain. “They are terrible partners for NATO, I will cancel all trade with them,” the president threatened. His comments come amid growing tensions within the organization regarding the security and budgetary commitments of member states.