The presidential election in the United States is now in full-swing and nations around the world are paying close attention. President Donald Trump is considered vulnerable, owing to his administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and race riots through the summer, and his defeat may cause as much of a flip in U.S foreign policy as when he was elected. His Democratic opponent, former vice president Joe Biden, is a familiar face on the international stage from his decades in the U.S Senate and during his tenure as President Obama’s point person on difficult problems abroad.

One country paying close attention to the outcome of this year’s election is Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Over the last four years, Erdogan has built a strong relationship with President Trump despite the ire directed at him from other elements of the executive branch and the U.S Congress.

Michael Rubin is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, where he specializes in Iran, Turkey, and the broader Middle East spoke to Nicholas Morgan to discuss the U.S. elections from the Turkish angle.