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Trump Says He’s ‘Very Disappointed’ in Erdogan Over Pastor

Says Turkish leader let him down after Trump assisted him
Trump cites help he provided for release of Turkish citizen

Trump speaks during an interview in the Oval Office on Aug. 30.Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg

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By John Micklethwait, Jennifer Jacobs, and Margaret Talev

August 30, 2018 at 10:22 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

President Donald Trump said he felt personally let down by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his refusal to release an American evangelical pastor after the U.S. had helped a Turkish citizen detained in Israel.

“I’m disappointed in him,” Trump said Thursday in an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg News, after initially declining to comment because the episode was “too dear to my heart.”