Presidents united states of america

Kurdish forces previously allied with the U.S. said they had reached a deal with President Bashar Assad’s government to help them fend off Turkey’s invasion. In Washington, Trump said in a statement that he was halting trade negotiations with Turkey and raising steel tariffs. He said he would soon sign an order permitting sanctions to be imposed on current and former Turkish officials. American troops consolidated their positions in northern Syria on Monday and prepared to evacuate equipment in advance of a full withdrawal , a U.S. defense official said. The hurried preparations, triggered by Trump’s decision Saturday to expand a limited troop pullout into a complete withdrawal, came as Trump’s national security team considered imposing what he called ‘‘big sanctions’’ on NATO ally Turkey. The U.S. pullout raised many questions, including how and whether the Trump administration would continue putting military pressure on the … [Read more...] about Trump says he plans to issue new sanctions against Turkey

US President Donald Trump has angered even his own Republican allies with the Syria pullout decision AFP/Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS The White House issued a late-night statement Sunday that it was effectively abandoning the Kurds who did most of the fighting alongside US forces to drive Islamic State extremists from northern Syria. Trump defended this in tweets Monday as part of his longstanding wish to end US military entanglements in the Middle East, or what he branded "ridiculous Endless Wars." The US pullout from Turkish border areas will allow Ankara, which has spent decades fighting Kurdish guerrilla groups, to launch cross-border operations. And it weakens the US hand in the broader chess game of Syria's civil war, involving Iran, Russia, European powers and Israel. In a sense there should be no surprise. Railing against the costly occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and - despite his bellicose rhetoric - holding off from military strikes against Iran, Trump believes he is … [Read more...] about Trump walks away from Syria and Republican allies

It’s fine to help Saudi Arabia with its missile defense system, certainly, but the president has also rattled the proverbial saber, saying that the United States is “locked and loaded” when it comes to Iran. And he seemed to leave it up to the Saudi kingdom to determine the US response, tweeting that he was waiting to hear from the Saudis regarding “under what terms we would proceed” after the refinery attack. Since then, we have witnessed the bizarre instance of the Saudi foreign minister acting as though he were a high US government official by warning that “there comes a point when even America’s patience runs out — and Iran must be aware of that.” All this is profoundly wrong-headed. Saudi Arabia may be our oil ally, and Iran our perceived adversary, but military action against Iran would be a huge mistake. We would be siding with a repressive kingdom run by a ruthless despot against a more populated country that, despite its … [Read more...] about The US shouldn’t take military action against Iran