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Malcolm Ferguson
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September 25, 2025/1:23 p.m. ET
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Trump “Jokes” About Rigging Elections With Turkish President
Donald Trump kicked off his press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the worst way.
Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shake hands in the Oval Office of the White House.
Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg/Getty Images
President Trump joked about rigged elections at the start of his press conference with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan, who has amassed power in Turkey for over two decades.
“It’s a pleasure to be with President Erdoğan of Turkey, and we’ve been friends for a long time, actually, even for four years when I was in exile unfairly, as it turns out, rigged elections, you know,” Trump said on Thursday. “He knows about rigged elections better than anybody, but when I was in exile, we were still friends.”
This is yet another example of Trump’s affinity for strongman authoritarian leaders with sketchy records on political transparency, human rights, and free speech, from El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele, to Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, to Erdoğan.
Erdoğan first became prime minister of Turkey in 2003. Since then, he has jailed students, protesters (for things like throwing eggs), and hundreds of journalists. He has briefly blocked access to Wikipedia and nearly every social media platform and has overseen the Turkish Great Depression, all while hanging giant banners of himself throughout the country. (Sound familiar?)
Most recently, Erdoğan arrested well-known opposition leader and political rival Ekrem Imamoglu on the grounds that he accepted bribes and rigged bids. Given Erdoğan’s history, it’s extremely likely that Imamoglu was arrested because he represents a serious threat to Erdoğan’s reign, even in the face of outright suppression and election rigging.
Each thing listed here—muzzling journalists, cracking down on protesters, jailing political rivals, hoarding power for decades—is something Trump has already done or professed his desire to do. It’s no wonder he feels such a kinship with Erdoğan.
Additionally, Trump referring to his losing the 2020 election and inciting a violent insurrection as his “exile” is rich. Let’s hope he doesn’t take any more notes from Erdoğan for 2028.
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