"I have a little conflict of interest 'cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul," Trump told Bannon during a Breitbart radio show. "It's a tremendously successful job. It's called Trump Towers - two towers, instead of one, not the usual one, it's two."

When Trump ran for office, he said he would turn over interests like this to his children, merely a symbolic gesture, but he hasn't even done that.

In May 2017, when Erdogan visited Washington, D.C., for a White House visit, Turkish agents violently attacked protesters outside the Turkish ambassador's residence - shoving past local police officers to do so. Video showed Erdogan calmly watching the attack from his car. Although the House of Representatives, then under GOP control, voted 397-0 to condemn the attacks, Trump refused to do so. A few months later, Trump praised Erdogan, describing him as "a very good friend" and saying he gets "very high marks" for the way he runs Turkey.

There have been several other instances of Trump caving to Erdogan, including his Muslim ban excluding Turkey.