Trump Said What? How Chaos on Turkey, Kurds, and Syria Could Work for U.S.

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In The Media

Trump Said What? How Chaos on Turkey, Kurds, and Syria Could Work for U.S.

The United States should not commit massive resources to roll back Iranian influence in Syria. President Donald Trump’s call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may have headed that off.

By Richard Sokolsky and Aaron David Miller

Published on Nov 27, 2017

Source: USA Today

President Trump’s phone call last week with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is evidence that the Marx Brothers were a better coordinated bunch than Trump and the others running foreign policy in this administration. The stumbles, bumbles and fumbles reflect a team that still lacks a coherent strategy toward Syria.

The president reportedly reassured the Turkish president that the U.S. would cease military support to the Kurdish militias. These were the forces the administration relied on, along with U.S. airpower, to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria's caliphate, and on which it was pinning its hopes to pressure the Assad regime and contain Iran in Syria...

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This article was originally published in USA Today.

About the Authors

Richard Sokolsky

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program

Richard Sokolsky is a nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Russia and Eurasia Program. His work focuses on U.S. policy toward Russia in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.

Aaron David Miller

Senior Fellow, American Statecraft Program

Aaron David Miller is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, focusing on U.S. foreign policy.

Political Reform Foreign Policy North America United States Middle East Türkiye Syria Levant

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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