Trump’s Love Affair with Erdogan Will Define His Legacy: The minute the Turkish leader boards his private jet home, he will laugh and mock the US President!

By Michael Rubin* for Hellas Journal – Washington

On September 19, 2025, President Donald Trump announced helium would big his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan astatine the White House. “We are moving connected galore Trade and Military Deals,” helium wrote, adding helium expects besides to reason an F-35 woody soon.

Trump whitethorn judge his gathering with Erdoğan volition cement his bequest arsenic a peacemaker. The 2 volition sermon Israel and Gaza, Syria, Ukraine, and Trump’s tendency for an Armenia-Azerbaijan bid deal. Trump is close that the gathering volition cement his legacy, but not successful the mode helium believes.

Trump is not a pupil of history, nor did helium wage overmuch attraction to authorities successful his aboriginal years.

He was lone 37-years-old and focused connected gathering his archetypal casino when, successful December 1983, President Ronald Reagan archetypal dispatched Donald Rumsfeld, President Gerald Ford’s erstwhile main of unit and Defense Secretary, arsenic a peculiar envoy to conscionable with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein successful Baghdad.

There was an progressive statement successful Washington astir the Iraqi leader. Many governmental leaders contrasted Saddam with Iranian person Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and believed the Iraqi person to beryllium a moderate.

Nizar Hamdoon, Iraq’s ambassador successful Washington, furthered that deception by seeking to charm American Jewish leaders with embassy parties and speech of peace, overmuch arsenic the Azerbaijani and Turkish ambassadors bash now.

Many successful the U.S. concern assemblage besides promulgated the “Saddam is simply a moderate” prevarication successful bid to propulsion vigor and subject commercialized implicit sanctions connected Saddam.

Deputy Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger told a visiting Iraqi authoritative that Washington’s condemnation of Iraqi chemic weapons usage against Iranians and Kurds was regular and should not beryllium taken excessively seriously.

When immoderate officials raised alarms astir the operation of lax export controls and Iraqi atomic ambitions, George Shultz and Caspar Weinberger, respectively the secretaries of State and Defense, overruled them adjacent though the Defense Intelligence Agency had concluded that Iraq would “probably prosecute atomic weapons.”

Rumsfeld again flew to Baghdad to conscionable Saddam and present a connection from Reagan. The State Department was effusive. “His [Saddam’s] remarks removed immoderate obstacles remained successful the mode of resuming diplomatic relations.” Rumsfeld recalled, “I began to deliberation … we mightiness beryllium capable to transportation the Iraqis to thin toward the United States and yet modify their behavior.”

The Reagan medication began issuing export licenses for high-technology and dual-use goods. The handshake betwixt Rumsfeld and Saddam would go an embarrassment conscionable six years aboriginal when, successful the mediate of the night, Saddam ordered his service to invade Kuwait.

What Reagan and Rumsfeld did not recognize is that the State Department tin indulge successful wishful reasoning and lobbyists for U.S. arms manufacturers and combatant jets tin spin, but neither changes reality: Dictators who clasp malign ideologies bash not easy forfeit them oregon wantonness their agendas for the involvement of a handshake oregon photo-op.

Trump should instrumentality solace. He is not the archetypal U.S. president to crave a Nobel Prize who fell for Erdoğan’s charms and flattery. The Turkish person played disconnected Barack Obama’s ego and naivete arsenic well.

Erdoğan flatters U.S. presidents and, Democrat oregon Republican, they autumn for it. Erdoğan and his squad measure U.S. presidents. They spot them arsenic naïve and cipher however they tin champion leverage them.

Trump whitethorn instrumentality Erdoğan astatine his word, but Erdoğan does not judge helium indispensable support his connection to a Christian or, for that matter, anyone who does not travel his constrictive Muslim Brotherhood mentation of Islam.

Trump thinks helium tin onslaught a woody connected the Halki seminary, but the 2nd Trump dies oregon leaves the Oval Office, Erdoğan volition void it. Nor volition Erdoğan deliberation immoderate much astir confiscating Trump household properties past helium has astir his governmental opponents. Rather, the infinitesimal Erdoğan boards his backstage pitchy home, helium volition laughter and mock Trump and the stupidity of Americans who walk billions of dollars crafting precocious stealth jets, lone to let countries similar Turkey to reverse technologist their technology.

Given Erdoğan’s past of territorial conquest against Cyprus, Syria, and Iraq; his threats against Greece, Armenia, and Israel; and his sponsorship of coercion against Jews, Christians, and Hindus, it is definite helium volition usage the precocious weaponry Trump promises to merchantability him against U.S. allies if not Americans themselves.

Just arsenic the Saddam-Rumsfeld handshake became emblematic of White House naivete and permanently stained Rumsfeld’s career, truthful excessively volition Trump’s clasp of Erdoğan specify Trump’s nationalist information legacy. Make nary mistake:

Turkey volition usage its F-35s against Israel and/or Greece. It volition motorboat a warfare of aggression that volition marque the United States instrumentality to the region, overmuch similar Saddam did against Kuwait.

Trump should beryllium nether nary illusions that helium volition beryllium Making America Great Again; rather, by suckling upon the Turkish leader’s slope accounts, Trump volition efficaciously beryllium murdering scores of Americans and greenlighting Turkish-backed coercion from Israel to India. Some stains are intolerable to lavation away.

* Michael Rubin is manager of argumentation investigation astatine the Middle East Forum and a elder chap astatine the American Enterprise Institute.