Trump Hosts Erdogan for First Meeting Since Clash Over Syria
- Leaders meet as House opens public impeachment hearings
- Congress wants sanctions over plan for Russian missile system
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Donald Trump will welcome Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the White House on Wednesday -- the leaders’ first meeting since a diplomatic clash over Turkey’s military offensive in northern Syria -- as Congress opens the first public impeachment hearings into the U.S. president.
Trump will be trying to move past the episode in Syria that he helped trigger by pulling U.S. troops out of the region, where they were maintaining peace between Turkey and the American-allied Kurdish forces that helped defeat Islamic State. At the same time, Trump is expected to increase pressure on Erdogan over his decision to purchase a Russian anti-aircraft missile system despite American admonitions.