US President Donald Trump described Türkiye on Tuesday as “a good place” and praised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as “a good leader.”
Trump made the remarks at the White House during a meeting with ambassadorial nominees, where each nominee introduced themselves and their designated countries.
When Tom Barrack, the nominee for Türkiye, spoke about the country, he highlighted its historical significance.
“Türkiye is one of the most ancient civilizations and is in search of your peace, prosperity, and security program,” said Barrack.
In response, Trump said, “Good place, good leader, too.”
Trump announced Barrack’s nomination for the ambassadorship in December.
Trump says Signal leak will be investigated as fallout continues to swell
Trump said that there will be an investigation into how an American journalist was inadvertently included in a Signal group chat where senior national security officials and Vice President JD Vance discussed plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
“We’ll look into it, sure,” Trump told reporters as he convened a group of candidates for US ambassadors, saying the investigation would focus on the security of official communications.
Trump said it would not be appropriate for the FBI to lead the probe, downplaying the severity of the national security blunder while acknowledging the mishap should be looked into. He maintained that his national security advisor should not have to apologize for the growing scandal, saying Mike Waltz is “doing his best.”
“Some people like Signal very much. Other people probably don’t, but we’ll look into it. I think, Michael, I’ve asked you to immediately study that and find out,” he said, addressing Waltz.
Atlantic magazine Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in his bombshell report Monday that he had been mistakenly added to the “Houthi PC small group” Signal chat on March 13 after receiving a connection request from an account bearing Waltz’s name two days prior.
Alongside him in the thread were accounts bearing the names of Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Stephen Miller, a top aide to Trump.
On the morning when the strikes were ultimately carried out, March 15, Goldberg said he received messages that highlighted “the shocking recklessness of this Signal conversation,” including key operational details of the strikes such as intended targets, and the weapons the US would use. Congratulatory messages among the senior officials began to appear as the strikes unfolded, confirming his suspicions that the thread was genuine. He left the chat the following day.
Trump said Waltz will “probably” refrain from using Signal in the future to which the national security appeared to consent, saying, “I agree with you. Let’s get everybody in the room, whenever, whenever possible. A lot of times.”