An intelligence official told Newsweek about Trump's phone call with the Turkish leader, saying the U.S. president was 'out-negotiated.'
President Donald Trump returns to the White House after visiting Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on October 04, 2019 in Washington, D.C. In a White House statement released late Sunday evening, Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation against American-backed Kurdish forces in Northern Syria. The U.S. military forces will not support or be involved in the operation.
Turkey has long considered the Kurdish militia in Syria to be a terrorist insurgency, despite the United States providing military and financial aid to the group in its fight against ISIS, the Islamic State militant group. A battle with the vastly superior military of Turkey, a NATO ally, could drive the Kurds into the arms of Bashar Al-Assad, the Syrian dictator that Washington wants ousted, and by extension into an alliance with Russia and Iran, two U.S. rivals with forces in Syria.
According to the NSC official, who had first-hand knowledge of the phone call, Trump did not endorse any Turkish military operation against Kurdish Forces, but also did not threaten economic sanctions during the phone call if Turkey decided to undertake offensive operations.granted the National Security Council official anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The source said they would not be surprised to see a Turkish incursion in the next 24 to 96 hours.
Trump told Erdogan he did not want anything to do with ISIS prisoners despite the United States not currently detaining Islamic State prisoners in Syria. The Syrian Defense Forces control custody of the prisoners. U.S. Army General Mark A. Milley, Trump's newly minted chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, is scheduled to meet with the service chiefs this morning to discuss the matter, said National Security Council source.
However, the United States chose not to stand its ground to protect Kurdish Forces against Turkish airstrikes as a part of Trump's"America First policy" and his historical views that war is bad for business, according to the official.
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