Trump holds news conference with Turkish president: Live updates | CNN Politics (2024)

President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a joint news conference this afternoon at the White House following a day filled with public testimonies in the impeachment inquiry.

Here are some of the big takeaways from the news conference:

President Trump said he has a “great relationship” with Kurds in Northern Syria, “and we’ve fought with them very successfully against ISIS.”

He also said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “has a great relationship with the Kurds.”

For his part, Erdogan said that it wasn’t the Kurds he had a problem with, it was terrorists.

“My political part has more than 50 MPs of Kurdish dissent in the Turkish parliament,” he said through a translator. “We’re just fighting terrorists, period. They don’t have an ethnicity, they don’t have a nationality, they don’t have a flag.”

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who operate in Northern Syria, are led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), which Turkey considers a terrorist organization affiliated with the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

President Trump said he knows nothing about explosive new information revealed in today’s public impeachment hearing that places him closer to the center of a Ukraine pressure campaign.

Trump, speaking at the White House, said he doesn’t recall a phone conversation with Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, in which Trump is said to have asked about “the investigations.”

The top US diplomat in Ukraine, Bill Taylor, disclosed the phone call today in the first public impeachment hearing. Taylor said he learned from one of his aides that Sondland spoke to Trump on July 26 at a restaurant in Kiev, and that the aide overheard Trump asking about investigations into the Bidens.

Speaking in the East Room, Trump said he did speak to Sondland to tell him there was “no quid pro quo” in his dealing with Ukraine.

But he said the details revealed by Taylor were new to him.

Earlier in the news conference, Trump said he hadn’t watched the impeachment proceedings “for one minute,” because he’s spent the day with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which he thinks is “far more important”

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WATCH: Trump meets with Turkish President Erdogan at the White House

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed a recent House resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide, suggesting that the legislation was bolstered by individuals sympathetic to the Kurdish forces who Turks regard as terrorists.

Some background on the resolution: In late October, the House passed a resolution recognizing the genocide of an estimated 1.5 millionArmenians during World War I, a move the Turkish government has long opposed.

The bill, led by California Democrat Adam Schiff, passed on a vote of 405-11.

“The decision makers in an incident that took place about 104 years ago should not be politicians, but historians. We have nothing to hide and we have a full self esteem in that regard,” Erdogan said.

He continued: “But I need to state very clearly that we are as Turkey on the side of dialogue and open discussion and debate. And we have voiced our proposals to the Armenian party to open the archives reciprocally and establish a history commission. I believe the Senate will take the United States out of this vicious cycle, which happened as a result of the resolution of the House of Representatives.”

President Trump, speaking at a joint news conference, said he’s releasing a transcript of a second call with his Ukrainian counterpart.

“I’m going to be releasing Ithink on Thursday a second call, which actually was the first of the two,and you’ll make a determinationas to what you think there,” he said.

More on this: Trump has been teasing the transcript of his call with the Ukrainian president all week — this communication having taken place in April before theJuly conversationat the heart of the impeachment inquiry.

The first question asked of President Trump during his joint conference with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey this afternoon pertained to the ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Shortly before the start of the conference, the House concluded its first day of public testimonies in the inquiry.

President Trump is a “big fan” of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and called Turkey a “great NATO ally” during a joint news conference today.

Trump made the remarks at the start of a joint news conference following talks at the White House.

It was an upbeat tone after the US-Turkey relationship has hit a rough patch.

Trump said negotiations were successful at the White House, calling it a “productive conversation on a range of very important topics.” He said he discussed the situation in Syria, which Turkey invaded after Trump withdrew US troops.

Trump said a US-brokered ceasefire in northern Syria was “complicated” but “moving forward very rapidly.”

He said Erdogan assured him he would “uphold what it’s supposed to uphold.”

Trump called Turkey’s acquisition of a Russian air defense system a serious challenge. But he expressed optimism the issue would be resolved, and said he’d agreed with Erdogan to have top officials from each of their governments discuss the matter.

President Trump addressed the ongoing conflict in Syria during a joint conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Some background on Syria: Trump decided towithdraw US troops from northern Syria and on Oct. 21 he claimed the US never agreed to protect Syrian Kurds forever, suggesting the US may secure an oil deal for the Kurds to bolster their finances. The US hadnegotiated a “ceasefire”with Turkey to have Kurds exit the area, a deal that forced America’s one-time Kurdish allies to cede large swaths of territory to Turkey.

President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoganare holding a joint news conference now in the White House.

During an Oval Office meeting this afternoon, both leaders discussed Erdogan’s position on obtaining Russia’s S-400 missile defense system and Turkey’s conflicts with the Kurds.

The meeting comes hours of the House held its first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry into Trump.

Watch the news conference live here.

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks as President Trump and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan take part in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on Nov. 13.

President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took part in a meeting with Republican lawmakers in the Oval Office this afternoon.

During the meeting, Republican members of Congress pressed Erdogan over his position on obtaining Russia’s S-400 missile defense system and over Turkey’s conflicts with the Kurds.

Erdogan pushed back on Turkey’s conflicts with the Kurds, maintaining that the Kurdish forces in Syria are “terrorist organizations.”

Speaking about what the two have discussed during the White House visit, Erdogan said Turkey has set its “eyes to the target of $100 billion dollars of trade volume, and of course, our indisputable partnership under the auspices of NATO is still there.”

Erdogan also emphasized that “Turkey is among the top five contributors of the NATO.”

Trump said the Turks are “very disappointed in the statement made by France having to do with commitment and NATO.”

In October, French President Emmanuel MacroncalledTurkey’s recent actions in Syria “a serious mistake by the West and NATO in the region. … It weakens our credibility.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, spoke briefly during the meeting.

“The purpose of this meeting is to have an American civics lesson with our Turkish friends. And there’s a pony in there somewhere if we can find it,” he said.

Sen. Rick Scott, of Florida, said his goal for the White House meeting is to be “in a better position, we’re better allies where we understand what’s going to happen with the S-400s so Turkey is in the direction of the United States and not heading in the direction of Russia.”

Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said that the group wants to bring Turkey back into the fold. She also wanted to discuss the S-400 issue. She also said she was interested in understanding how the US and Turkey could work through the issue disagreement over the US-Kurdish alignment in Syria.

The two issues at hand, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reiterated, were the S-400s and the Kurds.

“We do not want to see Turkey engage in offensive action against the Kurds,” Cruz said.

Erdogan pushed back asserting that Turkey took in millions of refugees over the conflict in Syria.

Trump said Europe should step up its NATO spending. Toward the end of the meeting, he said expected to work something out with the Turks over the S-400 issue.

“I project we’ll work something out with Turkey,” he said.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has taken to Twitter to criticize the meeting between President Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.

Biden claimed the meeting was another example of how the President’s “personal interests, not US interests, are driving his policy.”

Biden also mentioned the ongoing conflict in Syria. Trump decided towithdraw US troops from northern Syria and on Oct. 21 he claimed the US never agreed to protect Syrian Kurds forever, suggesting the US may secure an oil deal for the Kurds to bolster their finances.

The US hadnegotiated a “ceasefire”with Turkey to have Kurds exit the area, a deal that forced America’s one-time Kurdish allies to cede large swaths of territory to Turkey.

Read Biden’s tweet below:

On the same day President Trump is hosting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House, Defense Secretary MarkEspersaid the US needs to “work hard to make sure they get back on to the proper path.”

He added that Turkey’s purchase of a Russian missile system, and other recent actions by the Erdogan government, are “not the right way forward and we need Turkey back in the fold.”

On his trip,Esperis scheduled to stop in South Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

President Trumpwill soon hold a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House.

The news conference is happening on the same day the House of Representatives are holdingthe first public hearing in its impeachment inquiry into Trump. (You can follow live updates of the hearing here.)

President Trump repeatedly told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that it was “an honor” to host him at the White House today, despite broad bipartisan opposition to the visit in Congress and concerns about Turkey’s incursion into Syria.

Trump did not offer a condemnation of Turkey’s military operation targeting America’s Kurdish allies and didnot bring up allegations of war crimes being committed by Turkish proxies, saying “the ceasefire is holding very well, we’ve been speaking to the Kurds and they seem to be very satisfied, as you know we pulled back our troops quite a while ago because I think it’s time for us not to be worried about other people’s borders, I want to worry about our borders, we’ve got plenty of borders to worry about.”

Trump added that “we’re keeping the oil, we have the oil, the oil is secure, we left troops behind only for the oil.”

US defense officials have repeatedly said that the revenue from the oil will be given to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and not kept by the US. A senior State Department official told reporters yesterday that “US forces in northeast Syria are there under an authorization to fight terrorism, specifically to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS,” calling the securing of oil one of the “secondary missions” that “flow from that.”

President Trump meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Oval Office of the White House on Nov. 13 in Washington, DC.

President Trump remarked on the state of US-Turkish relations during an Oval Office meeting today with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, specifically zeroing-in on a potential trade deal and efforts to defeat ISIS and Russian military equipment sales.

Speaking about the border of northern Syria, Trump said,“The border is holding very well. The ceasefire is holding very well. We’ve been speaking to the Kurds and they seem to be very satisfied.”

Trump also thanked Turkey for the country’s effort to defeat ISIS in the region as the US has stepped back in its role there.

“We’ve been friends for a very long time, almost from day one,” Trump said of his relationship with Erdogan.

“I understand the problems that they had, including many people from Turkey being killed in the area that we’re talking about. And he has to do something about that also. It’s not a one-way street,” Trump said.

Trump also said the US and Turkey are strongly considering a trade deal.

Trump said he and Erdogan will “be talking about the S-400s … and we’ll be talking about the F-35 fighter jet.”

Trump also claimed that ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had been killed “last week.”He was killed by US forces on October 26 — more than two weeks ago.

Speaking about the individual third in line to take over for Baghdadi, Trump said, “He’s running for his life.

The President also said,“Turkey has recently captured over a 100 ISIS fighters and they’re are taking care of them.”

Erdogan spoke briefly during the press availability, saying he’d save his comments for a news conference at the White House later in the day.

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump (L) welcome Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan (R) to the White House on Nov. 13 in Washington, DC.

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump just welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine Erdogan, to the White House.

The Trumps shook hands with the Erdogans and briefly posed before going into the residence.

In this file photo, President Trump welcomes Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2017.

President Trump’s invitation to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reflects his belief in “working hardest on the hardest issues,” a senior administration official said in previewing the visit.

The Oval Office talks come at a low point in US-Turkey ties. Erdogan has remained unapologetic after his incursion into Northern Syria. And his order of the Russian S-400 missile system is going forward, despite US objections.

Those factors have led to some calls for Trump to cancel the visit. But administration officials said he believes in pursuing diplomatic resolution to the irritants.

The President is committed to direct engagement and diplomacy where it is most critical.

“This is a nearly 70 year alliance. It has helped both of our countries through very dark times,” the official went on. “We are not going to throw it away lightly if there is a way forward. This administration believes in engagement. We are engaging.”

That said, officials acknowledged there weren’taset deliverables known ahead of the visit.

“We don’t have the luxury of having precooked meetings,” one official said, noting Turkey would need to agree to any decisions.

The officials declined to state how optimistic they were in convincing Turkey to abandon the S-400 system.

And they said their chief goal in Syria was to keep lines of communication open, along with preventing a resurgence of ISIS.

The officials said the United States has no intention of ending its alliance with Syrian Kurds, something Turkey has been pushing.

And they said the issue of human rights has been raised consistently at the highest levels with the Turkish government when asked whether Trump would bring it up during the meeting.

President Trumpwill hold a news conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House today — the same day the House of Representatives will holdthe first public hearings in its impeachment inquiry into Trump. (You can follow live updates of the hearing here.)

Trump and Erdogan will appear for the news conference after the pair meets, the White House announced Sunday.

Thigh-profile meeting has been opposed by several members of Congress due to Turkey’s attack on the Syrian Kurds.

Issues that could come up: The controversial Turkish military operation into Syria, Syrian Kurd leaders’ claims of attacks on their population and the US decision to keep some US troops in Syria will all be major issues for the meeting and likely topics for questions during the news conference — in addition to impeachment.

The open impeachment hearings mark a new phase of the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into Trump’s dealings with Ukraine and will be the first time that the country hears directly from the officials at the center of allegations that Trump pushed the country to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and the 2016 election in order to help the President politically. The hearings are the next step for Democrats as they move closer to impeaching a President for the third time in US history.