Donald Trump to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president of Turkey, on the occasion of his slaughtering of Kurds and Syria power-grab with Russia:
"Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool."
Here's a scan of the White House letter first tweeted by Fox Business Channel's Trish Regan.
"Let's work out a good deal!"
"Don't let the world down."
"Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool!"
"I will call you later."
This is real.
Basically he stuck some tweets on White House letterhead.
… "let's work out a good deal!"
"don't let the world down."
"don't be a tough guy. don't be a fool!"
"i will call you later."@katierogers of the @nytimes has confirmed this letter is authentic. pic.twitter.com/S6EJRojr4F
— fake nick ramsey (@nick_ramsey) October 16, 2019
Felt the need to ask WH if this is actually real and it is. pic.twitter.com/bHyIFw6cvO
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) October 16, 2019
Question then becomes – was it actually sent that day (3 days after Erdogan call)?
— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) October 16, 2019
So the letter is dated October 9, which is days after the phone call where he gives the greenlight. Then he tweets about destroying the economy as the backlash builds, and this appears to be an attempt to save face/get a re-do on the call.
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 16, 2019
everybody out here clutching their pearls that they basically just printed his tweets on a WH letterhead
— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 16, 2019
The letter from Trump is dated three days after the White House released a late night statement announcing Turkey's imminent invasion of Syria and stating that US troops would steer clear of it. https://t.co/u02dRmWhj7
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 16, 2019
DON'T BE A TOUGH GUY! DON'T BE A FOOL! I will call you later. pic.twitter.com/8JdAPEILEC
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) October 16, 2019
The real highlight of this letter is that it was sent a week ago — on October 9, the day the operation began, so Erdogan just completely ignored it https://t.co/Csg7t5lYFs
— Tom Gara (@tomgara) October 16, 2019
"Don't be a tough guy/Don't be a fool/I will call you later" could be part of the chorus of a Tammy Wynette song
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) October 16, 2019
Trump and the guy who wrote the first draft. https://t.co/24LDUfgPbz pic.twitter.com/PwGPayd4Zz
— Eric Columbus (@EricColumbus) October 16, 2019
