White House Denies Trump Apologized To Erdogan For Turkish Bodyguard Brawl With Protesters

.@RT_Erdogan tells @JudyWoodruff Trump called him abt incident in DC this summer to say he was sorry + wanted to “follow up on this issue.” pic.twitter.com/CoVXYFamDV

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) September 19, 2017

In an interview with PBS NewsHour anchor Judy Woodruff, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that President Donald Trump recently contacted him personally to apologize for the vicious melee that took place between the foreign leader’s bodyguards and protesters in Washington earlier this year.

However, since the airing of this interview, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah says Erdogan’s claim on Trump’s phone call apology is “not true” according to the Weekly Standard‘s Mike Warren.

WH spox @RajShah45 tells me this is “not true.” WH readout from Sept 9 call says Trump “emphasized common commitment” to regional stability. https://t.co/GtntMBmSsU

— Mike Warren (@MichaelRWarren) September 19, 2017

Erdogan’s full refuted comments on the matter state, “[Trump] called me about a week ago about this issue. He said that he was sorry and that he was going to follow up on this issue when we come to the United States within the framework for an official visit.”

Following the protester-guard brawl, Congress opted to pull out of a plan that would authorize Turkey to buy $1.2 million in American arms for the use of presidential guards. Following this highly publicized incident on American soil, 19 people were indicted — 15 of which were Turkish bodyguards.

Watch above via PBS.

[image via screengrab]

Follow Caleb Ecarma on Twitter.

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