Trump praises Erdoğan as ‘tough cookie,” warns against “messing around with him” VIDEO

US President Donald Trump lavished praise on Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a meeting with Middle Eastern leaders, describing him as a “tough cookie” and cautioning that he was not someone others should “mess around with.”

Trump made the remarks during a multilateral meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Addressing the gathering, which brought together leaders from Türkiye and several Arab countries, including Syria, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt, Trump specifically highlighted Erdoğan, Caliber.Az reports.

“Including my friend right over here from Türkiye. He’s a tough cookie. You don’t mess around with him,” Trump said, referring to Erdoğan.

Trump then briefly joked about whether his comments would be rendered correctly in translation before continuing to praise the Turkish president.

“I hope they translate this right. I hope we have a good translator, but he’s fantastic. He’s a fantastic guy,” Trump said, turning to Erdoğan and referring to him as “my friend.”

Trump also praised the Gaza peace plan, describing it as an excellent approach, while claiming that Iran was seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Trump added that Iran was seeking “a nuclear weapon and a nuclear bomb,” stressing that the US was “not going to let that happen.” He went on to claim that Iran had been stripped of its military capabilities, with its ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and air defence systems destroyed, while its economy had been left in ruins, its currency devalued and the country financially isolated.

By Jeyhun Aghazada