Amid President Joe Biden’s poor debate performance in late June and drop in pre-election polls, many Turkish commentators are now entertaining the possibility of a Donald Trump victory in the US elections in November, and they are weighing how Turkey-US ties could evolve under Trump versus under Biden. Yet the general tenor of Turkey-US relations might not change radically, even if Trump wins the election and reenters the White House.
Following the July 13 attempt on Trump’s life, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, became one of the few world leaders who had a phone conversation with Trump. Praising the former president for his bravery and message of unity following the assassination attempt, Erdogan also congratulated Trump for formally securing the Republican nomination.
While some claim that four more years under Trump might be good for Turkey, experts who spoke to Al-Monitor explain that though Ankara-Washington ties won't magically mend if Trump wins, there may be slight improvement.
“The sense in the United States is that Erdogan and Trump will have a slightly better chemistry than has been the case between Erdogan and Biden, and presidential chemistry makes a difference,” Soner Cagaptay, director of the Turkish research program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Al-Monitor.
