Bolton: U.S. could withdraw from NATO if Trump is reelected

U.S. President Donald Trump met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday (local time) in Washington D.C. The meeting has attracted higher attention than other summits as it was the first time for the two leaders to meet after U.S. forces withdrew from Syria and Turkey’s attack on Kurds and the launch of “open hearing” on Trump’s impeachment.

President Trump joined President Erdoğan for a press conference and bilateral meetings starting at 12 p.m. on the day. The two leaders met for the first time in five months since their meeting at the G20 Summit in Osaka in late June. Reuters reported that the two leaders are likely to join forces to ameliorate for better relations since Turkey’s attack on the Kurds and the deployment of Russian missiles on its territory. Key agenda were Turkey’s import of F35 fighter jets and discontinuing attack on Kurds.

NBC reported that former National Security Advisor John Bolton had said last Wednesday he was most frustrated with Trump on Turkey, saying that he believed something else was motivating the president's actions toward the country. He pointed out that Trump’s opposition to the Congress’ attempt to impose sanctions on Turkey in response to the country’s importation of S400 missile system from Russia was unreasonable.

The Trump family has a company in Istanbul, Turkey's capital. Erdogan has close ties with the Trump family given that he attended the opening ceremony of the company, according to NBC. It is assumed that such personal ties impacted the White House’s response to Turkey’s attack on Kurds and economic sanctions in response to Turkey’s importation of Russian weapons.

Bolton said Trump could go full isolationist if reelected next year and could withdraw the U.S. from major international alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization


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