On his last day in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, President Trump held his final bilateral meeting of the week with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. It was the leaders’ first one-on-one meeting since Erdogan’s trip to Washington in May. Here’s how Trump introduced Erdogan in a photo-op before their meeting.
“He’s running a very difficult part of the world,” Trump said. “He’s involved very, very strongly and, frankly, he’s getting very high marks. And he’s also been working with the United States. We have a great friendship as countries. I think we’re, right now, as close as we have ever been. And a lot of that has to do with the personal relationship.”
Trump and Erdogan may have a good personal rapport, but the relationship between the two countries is, well, complicated. Turkey is an ally and remains a part of the Trump administration’s strategy for fighting ISIS and terrorism. But the Islamist government under Erdogan has become increasingly autocratic and repressive.
That repression reached our shores at the end of Erdogan’s May visit. A group of the Turkish president’s security forces and pro-Erdogan civilians violently attacked a group of peaceful anti-Erdogan protesters outside the Turkish embassy in Washington. Several of the attackers were arrested by District police and charged. Earlier this week, in an interview with Judy Woodruff of PBS, Erdogan claimed that Trump had called him last week and said he was “sorry” for the incident and that he would look into it.
The White House denies that Trump made any sort of apology. One source says Erdogan brings up his jailed security operatives every time they speak. Near the end of Thursday’s bilateral meeting—which chiefly concerned Syria, ISIS, and the upcoming Kurdish referendum in Iraq—Erdogan brought up the issue again. Trump responded that it was a local law enforcement matter and directed Erdogan to contact the State Department for any further questions.
They’re At It Again—New video from an event in New York on Thursday shows Erdogan security guards getting violent with protesters on American soil, again.
Mueller Watch—From Politico: “Mueller requested phone records about Air Force One statement” on Don Jr. meeting.
President Trump announced on Thursday new economic sanctions on “individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea.” Making a statement in New York at the beginning of a meeting with the president of South Korea and the prime minister of Japan, Trump said he had just signed an executive order authorizing the sanctions, saying the United States seeks a “complete denuclearization” of the Pyongyang regime.
“North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile development is a grave threat to peace and security in our world, and it is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal, rogue regime. The brutal North Korean regime does not respect its own citizens or the sovereignty of other nations,” said Trump.
“Our new order will give the Treasury Department the discretion to sanction any foreign bank that knowingly conducts or facilitates significant transactions tied to trade with North Korea,” he said. “Foreign banks will face a clear choice: do business with the United States or facilitate trade with the lawless regime in North Korea.”
President Trump also noted recent reports that China’s central bank had ordered the rest of that country’s banks to stop doing business with North Korea. China is the isolated regime’s chief and most crucial trading partner.
“I want to just say and thank President Xi of China for the very bold move he made today,” Trump said. “That was a somewhat unexpected move and we appreciate it.”
Programming Note—CNN will host a live health-care debate between Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham, the two Republican senators who have authored the latest Obamacare replacement legislation, and Bernie Sanders and Amy Klobuchar, the socialist and Democratic senators (respectively). The event airs Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern.
Essay of the Day—“Antonin Scalia, Legal Educator,” by Adam J. White in National Affairs.
Tax Reform Watch—My colleague Andrew Egger reports that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are looking at the White House-driven proposal on tax reform as “advisory.” Here’s an excerpt:
The latest Ken Burns documentary, this one on the Vietnam War, is missing a key part of the story. So says Bing West, writing in the New York Post.
“This documentary succeeds in vividly evoking sadness and frustration. But that is not all there was to the story,” West writes. “The Vietnam War strives for a moral equivalence where there is none. The veterans seem sad and detached for their experience, yet 90 percent of Vietnam War veterans are proud to have served. So there’s a large gap between what we see and the attitude of the vast majority of veterans.”
Song of the Day—“In Bloom” by Sturgill Simpson.
