President Trump on Thursday appeared to publicly acknowledge for the first time that his administration helped negotiate the release of a Turkish national being held in Israel as part of a broader deal that would have freed an American pastor jailed in Turkey. The breakdown of the deal has led to weeks of increasing tensions between Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that threaten the relationship between the United States and a key NATO ally that straddles Europe and the Middle East. Trump brought up the dispute at a Cabinet meeting Thursday, requesting an update on sanctions he recently slapped on senior Turkish leaders over the detention of American Andrew Brunson. “Turkey, they have not proven to be a good friend,” Trump said. “They have a great Christian pastor there. He’s a very innocent man. . . . I just think it’s a terrible thing that they’re holding him.” He then seemed to acknowledge that he was disappointed that Turkey did not release Brunson after the United States helped negotiate the release of the Turkish national jailed in Israel. “We got somebody out for him,” Trump said, referring to Erdogan. “He needed help getting somebody out of someplace; they came out.” “They want to hold our wonderful pastor,” Trump added. “Not fair. Not right.” Perhaps unwittingly, Trump opened a window into what is behind the intensity of the standoff with Erdogan, a strongman who shares Trump’s highly personalized, top-down leadership style and emphasis on projecting strength and rallying national pride. Neither wants to be the one who blinks amid hard feelings over who is responsible for the deal falling apart. In a tweet Thursday evening, Trump escalated his language on Brunson, describing the pastor as a hostage and declaring, “We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!” “Turkey has taken advantage of the United States for many years,” Trump said in the tweet. “They are now holding our wonderful C
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