In two media appearances at the White House on Wednesday, Trump sought to justify his decision to pull American forces amid a Turkish onslaught that has been widely condemned by the leaders of both political parties and the international community
The Trump administration is scrambling to contain the damage wrought by Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria, with top officials headed to Ankara as U.S. troops beat a hasty and chaotic retreat from their positions near the Turkish border.In two media appearances at the White House on Wednesday, the president sought to justify his decision to pull American forces amid a Turkish onslaught that has been widely condemned by the leaders of both political parties and the international community.
"You have to go back and take a look. But they fought with us, and we paid a lot of money for them to fight with us, and that's OK," he continued. "They did well when they fought with us. They didn't do so well when they didn't fight with us.” “Our soldiers are not in harm's way — as they shouldn't be, as two countries fight over land that has nothing to do with us,” he said.
“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, so there's a lot of sand that they can play with,” he said, later adding: “I wish them all a lot of luck.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, however, warned in a prepared statement Wednesday that Turkey's offensive "is undermining the campaign to defeat ISIS," and Pompeo told the Fox Business Network in an interview that Trump remains "committed to ensuring that ISIS does not rise again."
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