I have a great relations with a man named Erdogan.I happen to like him and he likes me. I know the press will get very angry -- 'he likes Erdogan.' But I do.

Axar.az reports that U.S. President Donald Trump made these comments during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Trump said he has "great relations" with Erdogan, whom he described as "a tough guy, and he's very smart, and he did something that nobody was able to do," referring to earlier remarks in which he said he believes "it was Turkiye" that orchestrated the downfall last December of Syria's former longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

"I said, Congratulations, you've done what nobody's been able to do in 2,000 years. You've taken over Syria with different names, but same thing. I said, you've taken it over. He's taken it over through surrogates," Trump said of his prior conversations with Netanyahu.

"Bibi, if you have a problem with Turkiye, I really think you're going to be able to work it out. You know, I have a very, very good relationship with Turkiye and with their leader, and I think we'll be able to work it out. So I hope that's not going to be a problem. I don't think it will be a problem," he added, using a nickname to refer to Netanyahu.

"Any problem that you have with Turkiye, I think I can solve. I mean, as long as you're reasonable, you have to be reasonable. We have to be reasonable," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.