“I think the president has a great relationship with the Kurds,” Trump said, gesturing to Erdogan during a joint press conference at the White House.

“Many Kurds live currently in Turkey, and they’re happy and taken care of,” Trump added, “including health care and education and other things.”

Turkey had launched an offensive in northern Syria against the Kurds — who had been fighting ISIS on the ground with the U.S.′ backing — after Trump, in early October, told Erdogan he would pull American troops out of the region.

Critics on both sides of the aisle accused Trump of giving Turkey a green light to attack U.S. allies and appearing to contradict the prevailing U.S. foreign policy at the time.

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, is militarily led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, or YPG, a group Turkey calls a terrorist organization and a security threat on its southern border.

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