Trump Asked Turkey’s President Whether He’d Seen ‘Midnight Express,’

• During the 2019 G20 Summit, Trump asked the Turkish president whether he’d seen the film “Midnight Express.” 
• “That’s a dark movie for you guys,” Trump told the Turkish delegation of the controversial 1978 film.
• Ex-Trump aide Stephanie Grisham recounted the conversation in her forthcoming memoir. 

Former President Donald Trump asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the foreign leader’s aides whether they’d seen the controversial 1978 movie “Midnight Express” at the G20 summit in 2019, according to Trump aide Stephanie Grisham’s forthcoming memoir. 

“That’s a dark movie for you guys,” Trump told the Turkish delegation after posing the question, according to Grisham’s account, which was first reported by The Guardian.

Grisham said “there was little reaction from the delegation” following Trump’s “out of the blue” comments. She added there were “maybe a few polite chuckles, before the conversation moved on, as if the president of the United States hadn’t just blurted that out.”

The Oscar-winning film, about an American man imprisoned in Turkey after attempting to smuggle hashish out of the country, has been criticized for depicting Turks as vicious and violent and damaging the country’s reputation. Both the film’s director, Alan Parker, and its writer, Oliver Stone, have said they regret how Turkish characters in the film were portrayed. The film is widely despised in Turkey. 

During his time in office, Trump repeatedly expressed his admiration for Erdoğan, who has run an increasingly authoritarian government that imprisons journalists, political opponents, and Americans. Erdoğan also held a referendum that dramatically expanded his own power. 

After the 2020 election, Congress finally passed economic sanctions on Turkey for purchasing Russian missile defense systems.