President Trump touted the “successful” nature of his meeting last week with the Russian foreign minister during a joint statement on Tuesday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
“We had a very successful meeting with the foreign minister of Russia,” Trump said before a closed-door conversation with Erdogan at the White House.
His comment comes as the administration struggles to explain why Trump reportedly disclosed sensitive information to the Russian foreign minister and the Russian ambassador during an Oval Office meeting last week. National security adviser H.R. McMaster has argued that Trump did not reveal sources or methods and appropriately shared terrorism-related information in the context of a conversation about fighting the Islamic State.
Trump vowed on Tuesday to support Turkey in its own fight against the Islamic State.
“The Turkish people have faced horrible terrorist attacks in recent years and even recently,” Trump said. “We support Turkey in the first fight against terror and terror groups like ISIS and the [Turkish separatist group] PKK and ensure they have no safe quarter, the terror groups.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated President Trump on his “legendary victory” in the presidential race during his first visit to the Trump White House on Tuesday.
Trump predicted that his relationship with Erdogan would be “unbeatable.”
