Trump Touts ‘Strategically Brilliant’ Decision to Abandon Kurds in Syria

President Donald Trump on Wednesday defended as "strategically brilliant" his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northeast Syria, exposing Kurdish allies instrumental in U.S.-led victories over the Islamic State group to a one-sided onslaught by advancing Turkish troops that threatens further destabilization in an already chaotic region.

"I view the situation on the Turkish border with Syria to be, for the U.S., strategically brilliant. Our soldiers are out of there, our soldiers are totally safe. They have to work it out. Maybe they can do it without fighting. Syria is protecting the Kurds," Trump said in wide-ranging remarks to reporters in the Oval Office alongside Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Trump may have been referring to reports in recent days that the Kurdish units, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, have been forced to turn to the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad – their former foe – and his Russian backers for protection now that they can no longer rely on U.S. support. The units, organized by the U.S.-led coalition during the Obama administration, were critical in ground fighting against the Islamic State group for a conflict to which the U.S. was reluctant to dedicate troops.

Trump's remarks on Wednesday come as a high-level delegation led by Vice President Mike Pence travels to Ankara to appeal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to consider a cease-fire as his troops advance through northern Syria. Erdogan earlier on Wednesday walked back statements that he would meet with nobody but Trump. But he stood by a clear assertion about his intentions in Syria: "We will never declare a cease-fire."

In response, Trump told reporters, "He didn't say that at all. He's meeting today with some of our representatives. As two countries fight over land, that has nothing to do with us."

Pence, along with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy for Syria Jim Jeffrey have been tasked with forging some sort of negotiation with Turkey, following the White House announcement earlier this week it plans to implement tough sanctions against Ankara. But Trump's rhetoric on Wednesday appeared indifferent to an American contribution to the ongoing conflict there.

"If Syria wants to fight for their land, that's up to Turkey and Syria, as it has been for hundreds of years. They've been fighting, and the Kurds have been fighting for hundreds of years, that whole mess," he said. "It's been going on for a long time. Syria may have some help with Russia, and that's fine. It's a lot of sand. They've got a lot of sand over there. There's a lot of sand they can play with."

Sen. Lindsey Graham, an occasional adviser of the president's, criticized his statements shortly after he made them, tweeting that they "completely undercut Vice President Pence and Sec. Pompeo's ability to end the conflict."

Citing a resurgence of the Islamic State group, repercussions for abandoning the Kurds and Iran's intentions to fill a security vacuum created by the U.S. departure, the South Carolina Republican wrote, "I fear this is a complete and utter national security disaster in the making and I hope President Trump will adjust his thinking."

Graham, along with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Maryland Democrat, will introduce new sanctions legislation against Turkey later this week.

Trump seemed to bristle at the idea of military partnerships the U.S. has formed with countries that host the American military – taking aim at a strategy senior defense officials routinely tout as the principal American advantage over its most potent adversaries.

"If you look at other countries – Russia, China – they don't have other countries to take care of," he said. "Frankly most of those countries don't respect what we're doing, they don't like what we're doing and they don't like us."

He touted as a model Saudi Arabia's offer to reimburse the U.S. for the planned recent deployment of 2,000 troops, along with missile batteries and fighter jets to offset Iranian aggression in the region.