Is President Trump crazy like a fox in his dealings with Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, or is he being taken in by a well-dressed thug?

In March, an anti-Christian and tribal genocide began in Syria. The actor was the new government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who’d been known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani (or al-Jolani or al-Golani) when he headed the Al-Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate around 2017. The new terrorist group he now heads is known as Hay’at (or Hayat) Tahrir al-Sham, commonly referred to as HTS. He and his men dress nicely now, but that’s a costume. They are still violent jihadists.

Assad’s replacement in Syria, Ahmed al Sharaa, regardless of his suit, is still a terrorist, dedicated to annihilating people by the tens of thousands. The Alawites are a splinter sect of Islam, whom al Sharaa is intent upon eradicating entirely. At last report, his militia had murdered upwards of 50,000 of them. The videos emerging from the slaughter are stomach-churning and include allegations of cannibalism. Meanwhile, Turkey is asking for HTS to stop being identified as a terrorist organization.

Image by Kremlin.ru via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 4.0.

Because this is Muslim-on-Muslim murder, the world does not care, except for Israel. Israel is the lone nation to act militarily against HTS, and has reportedly destroyed the former regime’s chemical weapons.

Israel, of course, understands that this is the fate that awaits it if it allows the Muslims in the region to achieve military success. Currently, these Muslims have backing not only from Iran but also from Turkey. Erdogan has claimed, “Jerusalem is our city.” He has also called for the Jewish state’s destruction. His presence in Syria should be considered a serious threat to Middle Eastern stability and Israel’s survival. Without Turkish arms, training, and funding, HTS would not come to power. At this point, it represents a greater threat than the diminished Assad regime.

One of the things that Westerners as a whole have failed to grasp is that people like al-Sharaa change their names and their clothes to appear as moderates who are transitioning away from jihadism. Suddenly, they present as people who can be negotiated with as equals, like other heads of state. American diplomats are repeatedly taken in by this charade, at the cost of uncounted numbers of lives. The same is true for jihadists like Erdogan, who have always dressed in Western clothes and presented themselves as reasonable actors.

Most recently, Trump’s envoy to Hamas, Steve Witkoff, showed the American propensity to be taken in by costume changes. Khaled abu Toameh is a secular Middle Eastern Arab scholar living in Jerusalem. In a piece entitled “There is No Difference Between Hamas Politicians and Terrorists,” he lays out the case for Witkoff’s dangerous self-delusion:

• “They [Hamas] need to demilitarize and then they might be involved in Gaza.” — U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff in an interview with Tucker Carlson on March 21, 2025.
• “I thought we had an acceptable deal. I even thought we had an approval from Hamas. Maybe that’s just me getting duped.” — Steve Witkoff about a ceasefire extension he had just finished negotiating, Fox News, March 23.
• Duped [Toameh] is putting it mildly. Witkoff who undoubtedly has the best intentions is sadly proving the perfect mark.

Given that Erdogan is an anti-Israel, terrorist-supporting thug in a suit, what is President Trump’s position on Turkey and Erdogan? In 2019, he called Erdogan a friend and someone with whom he shares mutual respect. He did so even in 2019 when Erdogan’s troops were committing atrocities against the Christian Syrian population. In 2025, before taking office, he was still praising Erdogan.

Trump certainly knows what is going on in Syria, as well as Erdogan’s role in backing HTS. He also knows about Erdogan’s goals for Israel. Yet, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat next to Trump during the former’s most recent visit to the White House, Trump reaffirmed his support for Erdogan, assuring Netanyahu that he could work out any differences with Erdogan.

Trump assured Netanyahu that being reasonable with Erdogan was the solution. How do you work out Erdogan’s call for the destruction of the Jewish people? Is that reasonable?

As long as someone does not attack Trump personally, he has a policy of speaking nicely about them, his version of “speak softly and carry a big stick.” However, Steve Witkoff’s manifest naivete about Hamas leads me to worry that, as brilliant as the President has been with his “outside the box” thinking on tariffs and trade, he is just the opposite in his Middle East dealings. As Erdogan’s support for HTS makes clear, he is just another terrorist in a suit and tie, but the President refuses to acknowledge that fact.