{UAH} Trump's letter to Erdogan: "Don't be a fool"

Trump letter to Erdogan: 'Don't be a fool'

Trump letter to Erdogan: 'Don't be a fool' In language shorn of diplomatic niceties, Trump began with an outright threat

"Don't be a fool," Donald Trump warned his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an extraordinary letter sent the day Turkey launched its incursion into northeastern Syria -- warning history risked branding him a "devil."

Three days after appearing to greenlight an invasion by pulling US troops from the Kurdish-dominated region, Trump told the Turkish president he would wreck Ankara's economy if the invasion went too far.

In language shorn of diplomatic niceties, Trump began with an outright threat.

"Let's work out a good deal," Trump wrote in the letter dated October 9, whose authenticity was confirmed to AFP by the White House.

"You don't want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don't want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy and I will."

"History will look upon you favorably if you get this done the right and humane way," Trump said. "It will look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen."