This is an excerpt from Al-Monitor Turkey. To read the full newsletter, sign up here.

It was a macho authoritarian leader’s dream come true. Scenes of US President Donald Trump standing attentively behind Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as he signed an official document at the White House before helping him out of his chair with all the flourish of a head waiter at a luxury restaurant were balm for Turks across the ideological divide. The event marked the high point of Thursday’s summit that brimmed with mutual flattery, playful jokes and no key breakthroughs, it later emerged.

Trump had raised expectations during a joint news conference ahead of the working lunch between the two delegations. He showered praise on Erdogan, calling him a “tough guy,” “a great leader” and someone “I respect.” Trump told reporters that an agreement on ending congressional sanctions allowing Turkey’s reentry into the F-35 program could be struck “very soon” and “if we have a good meeting, almost immediately.” 

Apparently, it wasn’t good enough. “Of course, it’s not possible to resolve every issue in a single meeting. However, this contact has led us to make meaningful progress on many matters,” Trump said after the near two-hour encounter. When asked whether Turkey would get the F-35s, Trump said, "I will be able to easily, if I want. So we may, we may do that. Well, it depends. He’s going to do something for us,” Trump said without elaborating.