Donald Trump appeared in the Diplomatic Room at the White House Wednesday morning to declare that Turkey’s invasion of Syria and displacement of the Kurds from their historic homeland were somehow a “very, very special” outcome that represents a “major breakthrough toward achieving a better future for Syria and the Middle East.” That outcome was the permanent surrender of Kurdish territory to Turkish control, and the end of all the threatened, but never implemented, sanctions against Turkey.
A day after news cameras recorded Kurdish townspeople throwing rocks and rotting vegetables at retreating U.S. forces, and Trump’s own envoy admitted that at least 100 ISIS prisoners had escaped, Trump declared that the United States had done the Kurds “a great service” for which Kurdish leadership was very grateful. Trump continually painted the U.S. “achievement” in Syria as one that had “saved the lives of many, many Kurds” by achieving a cease-fire and making it permanent. Unmentioned in Trump’s remarks was that this “peace” was achieved by the United States surrendering for the Kurds and giving away their territory. Trump also mentioned that “others” were now involved in patrolling the Syrian border. He never mentioned that one “other” was Russia, or that Vladimir Putin had made a deal with Turkish leader Recep Erdoğan over how to divide up the Kurdish homeland.
Trump’s declaration of a cease-fire was actually America standing behind an ultimatum delivered to the Kurds to abandon their homes, or else. And what Trump is now calling a permanent cease-fire is America signing on to a declaration of surrender on behalf of the Kurds. And in a final bit of 1984-worthy wordcraft, Trump announced that there would now be a “safe zone” along the Syrian border—by which he means an exclusion zone in which Kurds are not allowed.
In this distorted speech, Trump announced, “This was an outcome created by us, the United States, no other nations, very simple … this is something we’ve been trying to do for many, many decades.” But at the same time, Trump also bragged on how this outcome was achieved without the spilling of “one drop” of American blood. The fighting was not America’s. But the betrayal … that definitely was.
Trump noted that not every American soldier has left the region, because there is something close to his heart that must be protected: “We have secured the oil, and therefore a small number of U.S. troops will remain in the area.” However, when it comes to the lives and property of those who counted on the United States as allies, “Turkey, Syria, and the Kurds have been fighting for centuries. We’ve done them a great service, and now we’re getting out.”
Trump repeatedly praised Turkish autocrat Erdoğan. And he repeatedly declared that he was welcoming others into the area without mentioning once that those others consisted of Russia. And also Russia.
He extended great thanks to Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their great work in getting Erdoğan to agree to accept exactly what he wanted all along without even having to fight for it. And he belittled the effect of displacing Kurds from their homes, saying, “They enabled them to get out and move, really, just a few miles in another direction.”
And Trump repeatedly defended his green-lighting of Turkey’s invasion of Syria as a necessary step in achieving this “great outcome,” calling this “a deal that could never have been made without this short-term outburst.” The children who were napalmed by Turkish air forces will surely be comforted by that description.
On ISIS, Trump dismissed reports that hundreds of fighters had been released, declaring that only “a small number” got out and that most of those had been recaptured. If there was a problem, he said, Turkey is “there to grab” any ISIS fighters. Then he said that “American forces defeated 100% of the ISIS caliphate,” conveniently cutting out the people whose defeat he was declaring from the White House.
Trump once again made it clear that his policy as far as America was concerned was a path of not just isolationism, but accommodation. He’s more than willing to let other people “fight over bloody sand,” to let others patrol the Syrian border, and to let others act against any violations of the cease-fire that he described as “as permanent as you can get in that part of the world.”
After that, Trump spent some time bragging that he had lobbed missiles into an empty air base to show he was tough. That he had spent a lot of money on the military. And that President Obama had failed to halt tragedy in Syria. Then he left without taking any questions.