President Donald Trump revealed overnight that Turkey considered joining the war against Israel alongside Iran, and that he personally asked President Erdogan to stay out. Trump called Erdogan a 'friend,' praised the Turkish military, and hinted he would advance an F-35 deal. He also confirmed he will attend next month's NATO summit in Turkey at Erdogan's invitation.
President Donald Trump confirmed overnight that he will attend next month's NATO summit in Turkey at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's personal invitation, and hinted he would advance the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Ankara. Speaking in an interview that aired Thursday morning, Trump reiterated his earlier claims — reported by The Zioneer in four consecutive bulletins on Wednesday evening — that Erdogan had considered joining the war on Iran's side but refrained because Trump asked him not to. The new remarks add the attendance confirmation and the F-35 hint to a thread that began at 23:35 Jerusalem on Wednesday as an unconfirmed Channel 12 report and, within the same hour, gained additional sourcing (Walla News) and finer detail (a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte).
The reported the evolution through the night: at 23:35, version 1 quoted Trump telling Rutte 'I love Erdogan' and that Erdogan 'does everything I ask'; version 2, also at 23:35, added the clearer context that Trump's request was to not side with Iran, attributed to Amichai Stein and citing Trump's own words to Rutte; version 3, still at 23:35, added Trump's remark that Erdogan 'doesn't like Israel'; and version 4, at the same timestamp, added that Trump also said he made a similar request to China's Xi Jinping. All four bulletins carry the same published_at time, indicating a rapid sequence of updates within the same window.
As The Zioneer reported Thursday at 08:15 Jerusalem, Trump said he would likely approve the sale of F-35 and F110 engines to Turkey — a SAME-THREAD context item that now ties directly to his overnight hint. On June 18, The Zioneer reported a Turkish report that Trump had told Erdogan he was coming to the NATO summit solely for him. Erdogan welcomed Trump's presence at the summit in Ankara as important for alliance unity, as reported by The Zioneer on June 10.
The specific claim about Turkey's wartime posture — that Erdogan was a 'candidate to enter the war alongside Iran' — remains solely attributed to Trump's own statements and has not been independently corroborated by Turkish or other official sources.
5 developments
- DevelopingTrump says he will speak with Turkey, calls Erdogan 'great'
- StrongTrump reveals he asked Erdogan for unusual favor — and says he agreed
- DevelopingReport: Trump tells Erdogan he's coming to NATO summit in July just for him
- StrongErdogan says Israeli operations threaten Turkey; warns of military confrontation
Source and signal
- Internal intake