But despite Brunson’s detention, in the brief segment, Trump doubled down on his praise for the Turkish strongman , a regular theme of his administration. Trump made the comments to Andrew Brunson , an evangelical pastor from North Carolina, who was arrested in Turkey in 2016 on espionage and terrorism charges. The White House levied tariffs and upped political pressure on the Erdogan government, and the pastor was ultimately released in 2018 after the Trump administration personally raised the case with Erdogan. President Donald Trump hosted a roundtable with six former hostages during the first night of the Republican National Convention, at one point telling a pastor held in Turkey for two years that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan “was very good” despite the former hostage’s ordeal. “I have to say, to me, President Erdogan was very good.

Source: Huffington Post August 25, 2020 03:45 UTC