Donald Trump tells Turkish President Erdogan ‘don’t be a tough guy’ over Syria invasion in extraordinary letter

DONALD Trump warned Turkey’s hardman president “don’t be a tough guy” as he urged him not to invade Syria in an extraordinary letter leaked tonight.

The US president told Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he would “destroy” the Turkish economy if he stepped out of line, adding: “Don’t be a fool!”

Trump added that he wanted to “work out a good deal” and that his counterpart in Ankara was at risk of being viewed in history as “the devil”.

Penned on October 9, the terse letter – leaked on Wednesday – was sent just as Trump announced the shock withdrawal of US troops in northeast Syria.

Mr Trump wrote: “You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy – and I will.

‘DON’T LET THE WORLD DOWN’

He added: “I have worked hard to solve some of your problems. Don’t let the world down. You can make a great deal.”

The letter, first revealed by Fox News host Trish Regan, adds: “History will look upon you favourably if you get this done the right and humane way.”

The sudden removal of the American military presence was seen by US allies the Kurds – a sworn enemy of Turkey – as a stab in the back.

Turkey swiftly deployed troops over the Syrian border to seize Kurdish Syrian Democratic Front (SDF) positions in a series of bloody battles.

Russia has since filled the void left by the departing American troops – brokering an alliance between the SDF and forces aligned to the Syrian government.

The awkward deal between Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad – a close ally of Moscow – and the brave anti-ISIS SDF effectively leaves the fate of the Kurds in the untrustworthy hands of Vladimir Putin.