Wall Street Journal editorial board skewers Trump decision on Turkey

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board is blasting President Trump’s decision to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria.

The board in an editorial published late Friday accused Trump of appeasing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who launched an assault against Syrian Kurds after the announcement of the U.S. forces’ withdrawal. 

“When the Turkish bully made his threats, Mr. Trump could have said that the U.S. military controls the air above the region and would respond to protect the Kurds and U.S. soldiers,” the editors wrote.  

{mosads}They added that the president’s removal of U.S. troops will endanger the fight against ISIS, asserting that the Kurds, who along with the Syrians took almost all the causalities from battling ISIS, will not trust the U.S. to team up with them again.

“Why would they do so again after Mr. Trump abandoned them against the Turks?” the editorial asks. 

Trump’s usual allies have turned against him regarding his Syria decision, saying the U.S. will be perceived as an “unreliable ally.”

Trump, however, has defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, saying he wants to remove the U.S. from “endless wars.”

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board responded by saying Erdogan “called the President’s bluff.”

The editorial concluded by saying Trump should be the “safer presidential choice” in the 2020 presidential election as the incumbent, but he’s not.

“But Mr. Trump’s judgment can be so reckless that many voters who took a risk on him the first time will ask if he’s worth a second gamble when he would no longer be disciplined by having to face the voters again,” the editorial states. “Impeachment won’t defeat Donald Trump in 2020, but Donald Trump might.”