And people in Turkey are apparently venting their anger by smashing their iPhones and turning their backs on other American electronic goods.
Meanwhile, US foreign policy expert Dana Allin has told Express.co.uk he was concerned at Mr Trump’s approach, which he said amounted to making decisions “almost on a whim”, and which he warned was stoking “serious tension between the US and Turkey”.
Mr Trump’s early-morning tweet, sandwiched between various attacks on former CIA director John Brennan, said: “Turkey has taken advantage of the United States for many years.
“They are now holding our wonderful Christian Pastor, who I must now ask to represent our Country as a great patriot hostage.
“We will pay nothing for the release of an innocent man, but we are cutting back on Turkey!”
It marks the latest in a series of angry attacks on the country in recent weeks in response to the detention of US evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson after the failed coup attempt against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016.
Following the unrest on July 15, Mr Brunson, who has lived in Turkey for 23 years, was imprisoned on October 7 after being accused of being a member of the Gülen movement, which Mr Erdogan’s regime deems to be a terrorist organisation. He is now being held under house arrest.
The move is believed to be motivated by Turkey’s calls for the US to extradite Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, the movement’s founder.
The US insists Mr Brunson is “a victim of unfair and unjust detention”.
Mr Trump’s announcement that tariffs on steel and aluminium would double to 50 percent and 20 percent respectively resulted in the Turkish lira plunging in value, at one point being valued at 7.24 against the US dollar before rallying to 5.86 today.
In total the lira has weakened 35 percent against the dollar this year.
Mr Erdogan responded by announcing that Turkey would boycott US goods, while videos circulated online have shown US-made iPhones being destroyed, one with a gun and another with a hammer.
At a cabinet meeting yesterday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin assured Mr Trump that further sanctions were ready to be put in place if Brunson was not freed, adding: “We have more that we are planning to do if they don’t release him quickly.”
The escalating rhetoric between the two NATO allies prompted concern in some quarters, especially in the light of Mr Erdogan’s comment that “failure to reverse this trend of unilateralism and disrespect will require us to start looking for new friends and allies”.
Speaking at a rally in the Black Sea town of Unye, he added: “It is wrong to dare bring Turkey to its knees through threats over a pastor.
“I am calling on those in America again. Shame on you, shame on you.
“You are exchanging your strategic partner in Nato for a priest. You can never bring this nation in line with the language of threats.
“We have not made concessions on justice so far, and we will never make any.
“If there are dollars under your pillow, take these out. If there are euros, take these out.
“Immediately give these to the banks and convert to Turkish lira and by doing this, we fight this war of independence.”
Mr Allin, who is Senior Fellow for US Foreign Policy and Transatlantic Affairs at the International International for Strategic Studies (IISS) said: “It’s fair to say Turkey is not behaving like an ally and it is at fault for a lot of this.
“But Trump has taken this decision to aggravate a currency crisis almost on a whim and it is stoking serious tension between the US and Turkey.”