US President Donald Trump said Monday that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he "has to be reasonable" over any disputes he has with Türkiye, as the US president also lauded his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
"Any problem that you have with Turkey, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as you're reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as he hosted Netanyahu, using an older English word for Türkiye.
"Bibi, if you have a problem with Turkey, I really think you're going to be able to work it out. You know, I have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and with their leader, and I think we'll be able to work it out. So I hope that's not going to be a problem. I don't think it will be a problem," he added, using a nickname to refer to Netanyahu.
Trump said he has "great relations" with Erdoğan, whom he described as "a tough guy, and he's very smart, and he did something that nobody was able to do," referring to earlier remarks in which he said he believes "it was Turkey" that orchestrated the downfall last December of Syria's former longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
"I said, Congratulations, you've done what nobody's been able to do in 2,000 years. You've taken over Syria with different names, but same thing. I said, you've taken it over. He's taken it over through surrogates," Trump said of his prior conversations with Netanyahu.
Assad, Syria's leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party's regime, which had been in power since 1963.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period on Jan. 29.
