Cocky Biden tells Turkey’s Erdogan he’ll win in 2024

President Joe Biden plans to triumph in his re-election campaign next year and attend summit meetings like the one he attends in Lithuania well into the future.

Biden spoke confidently about his electoral chances — despite trailing Donald Trump in some recent polls — during a meeting with Turkish President Recep Erdogan on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Lithuania.

It came hours after Turkey gave Biden and the powerful alliance a diplomatic victory by backing Sweden’s bid to become the 32nd member, at a summit where Biden vowed to defend “every inch” of NATO territory.

Erdogan thanked Biden for his congratulations after his own election — which led to a runoff election that led some officials to consider a less strenuous relationship with Turkey.

Biden, 80, smiled and thanked his counterpart, who has dominated politics in Turkey for decades, prevailing in a runoff this year.

‘Thank you. I look forward to being with you for the next five years, Mr. President,” Biden said.

Erdogan had called his meeting with Biden a “step forward,” referring to his own five-year term.

“And with the upcoming elections, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you good luck as well,” Erdogan said.

Former president regularly testified about his relationship with Erdogan when he was in office.

“He’s a friend of mine, and I’m glad we didn’t have a problem because honestly he’s a great leader, and he’s a tough man, he’s a strong man,” Trump said in 2019.

The Turkish strongman was speaking on a day when he achieved an important goal while dropping his opposition to Sweden’s admission, which was to obtain F-16 fighter jets from the US.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters here in Vilnius Thursday that Biden had previously been “clear that he supports the transfer” of the jets.

“He has not commented on this … He intends to move forward with that transfer,” he said.

Officials were vague on additional details, noting that the Greeks were participating in a final meeting on the subject. Biden himself mentioned the jets in the context of bringing Sweden in in a recent CNN interview before heading to London for the start of his journey.

Biden tracked his remarks and barely flinched when US reporters asked him a series of questions about the outline of the deal Sweden, on Russia’s eastern flank, will deliver. He kept his lips pressed together as aides signaled the press event was over and escorted media members out of the room where they were meeting.

Biden is again throwing himself into diplomacy, while dealing with a difficult electorate at home. He is virtually tied with Trump in the Real Clear Politic average, which stands at 44-44, with Biden slightly lower after trailing Trump in some June polls but leading him in others.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, an ally of Biden, spoke of the diplomatic breakthrough in Vilnius, telling DailyMail.com that there was a “serious question” when Biden was sworn in on whether the alliance was viable after Trump.

Durbin said an alliance that “failed” is now a “strong, viable, credible operation” with Finland as a member and Sweden seeking to join.

When asked if Biden took anything home, he replied, “He sure is. It’s significant. It’s historic.’

Earlier in Lithuania, Biden vowed to defend “every inch” of NATO territory as the mighty alliance took a major step toward adding its 32nd member.

The president was speaking in the capital of Vilnius at the start of a NATO summit when his national security adviser Jake Sullivan said rumors of division over support for Ukraine are “greatly exaggerated.”

“As I’ve said before, we take — NATO takes — we all take Article V literally,” Biden said as he met with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at the start of the summit on Tuesday.

He said that all NATO members have committed themselves to the mutual defense obligations of the NAT Charter. “We are together against whoever violates that space. We’re going to defend every inch of it,” he said.

Jake Sullivan warned Tuesday that Vladimir Putin will be “disappointed” by what emerges from a key NATO summit in Lithuania.

President Biden’s top aide lashed out at claims that divisions had erupted over Washington’s decision to send controversial cluster bombs to Kiev’s armed forces.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among a chorus of voices expressing concern about shipping the highly lethal weapons to the war-torn country.

But in a response to DailyMail.com, Sullivan rejected claims that the 31-nation military alliance was split over its support for the Ukrainian military.

“I would say rumors of the death of the NATO unit were greatly exaggerated,” he said. “Vladimir Putin counted on the West to crack, NATO to crack and the Transatlantic Alliance to crack and he has been disappointed at every turn.”

The Russian tyrant will be “deeply disappointed” by what emerges from the two-day meeting in Lithuania, Sullivan added.

And in a clear sign that tensions were rising, Russia’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov accused Washington of plotting a “showdown” with Moscow.

“Everything is being done to prepare domestic public opinion for the approval of the anti-Russian decisions that will be taken in Vilnius in the coming days,” he told RIA news agency, a spokesperson for the Kremlin.