US President Donald Trump, during a press conference at the White House with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, revealed a direct request he made to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the war with Iran, stressing that the latter responded to him and remained outside the confrontation, at a time when he hinted at an American step that might satisfy Ankara soon.

According to a report by journalist Eli Leon in the Maariv newspaper, Trump did not hesitate to criticize a number of Washington’s European allies, but he completely changed his tone when talking about Erdogan, describing him as “a great leader and a very strong man.”

At the beginning of his speech, Trump focused on the military confrontation with Iran, boasting about what he described as “the quick American victory,” and said: “We did not need any help with that. We crushed them, literally, from the first week.”

But on the other hand, he expressed his disappointment in the position of European countries and NATO, adding: “It would have been nice if they had at least said: We would like to help. We did not need that, but it would have been nice if they had said that. They simply did not.”

Trump was not content with general criticism, but rather named specific countries, saying: “I was disappointed with Italy. I was disappointed with Britain. We were disappointed with Germany and France. We were disappointed with most countries.”

He singled out Spain for harsher criticism, considering it “terrible even from your point of view,” and added: “They do not want to pay anything. They think they are here on a free trip. Spain is not a good group at all.”

Trump touched on any possible future agreement with Iran, stressing that he would not accept any settlement that includes imposing fees on ships in various maritime straits, and said: “This would be unacceptable. We have many straits, and if we do it for them, we will have to do it for others. I will not allow that.”

As for Turkey, Trump revealed that Erdogan responded to a direct request from him not to interfere in the regional war, and said: “He is my friend, and he stayed out of the war. He was a natural candidate to enter the war with Iran… On the other hand, he is not a big fan of Israel, as you know. I asked him to stay out of it, and he stayed out of it.”

Trump added that he directed a similar request to Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressing that they also refrained from interfering.

He said: “We did a good job. Erdogan is a great leader, a very strong man, and he has a great army. I asked them to stay out of it and they did. People were surprised.”

When asked if he would go to Turkey with a security “gift basket,” including jet engines and advanced F-35 fighters that Ankara would like, Trump responded with a positive nod, saying, “I think so. He’s a strong member of NATO… and I’ll probably do something that will make him very happy.”

He added: “Turkey has a defense industry base that includes 50,000 companies. This is a very strong army thanks to it.”

Trump also made it clear that his upcoming visit to Turkey was mainly at Erdogan’s request, saying: “He called me and said, ‘Please, you must, the United States must be here. So I’m going out of respect for President Erdogan.'”

In the final part of the press conference, Trump turned to American domestic politics, attacking what he described as the “radical left” within the Democratic Party, after the results of the New York primary elections.

He said: “They are going towards the radical left. You talk about social democrats, but this is actually communism.”

He spoke about one of the winning candidates, saying sarcastically: “I saw this woman last night. This is not a socialist. This woman is a communist.”

Trump also attacked Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, considering that he had radically changed his position on Israel, and said: “He has effectively become a Palestinian. I think this is the biggest shift in a political position I have ever seen in my life. Chuck Schumer, who was a strong supporter of Israel, has become 100% Palestinian.”

At the conclusion of his speech, Trump warned that progressive policies and high taxes in Democratic states were pushing the wealthy to leave New York and California for states like Florida. He said: “You cannot raise taxes on people. You are forcing them to leave. They are the ones who pay 90% of the city’s taxes.”

Between his criticism of the Europeans and his praise of Erdogan, Trump seemed to be redrawing the map of his foreign priorities: sharp rivalry with traditional allies, and calculated openness to leaders who know how to use their relationship with him in moments of great tension.