National security officials start leaking the ugly details of Donald Trump’s bizarre Turkey-Syria stunt in real time
It’s not entirely clear why Donald Trump has suddenly decided to hand Northern Syria to Turkey. Maybe he’s putting the lives of the Kurds in jeopardy as a bargaining chip in his inevitable resignation plea deal. Maybe Turkey paid him off in a quid pro quo. Or maybe Trump is just trying to hurry up and finish himself off. One thing is clear: his own national security people aren’t having any of it, and they’re leaking things in real time.
One national security official is telling Newsweek Donald Trump got “rolled” in his deal with the head of Turkey, and that Trump “has no spine.” Someone else close to the situation is telling Politico that Trump has gone “rogue.” This all adds up to one thing.
We’re now past the point of people in the Trump administration filling out whistleblower reports about Donald Trump’s anti-American antics, and then going through the long process of waiting for their report to go through the proper channels. We’re now at the point where national security officials are taking the risk of picking up the phone, calling reporters, and spelling out precisely what Trump is doing, within hours of him having done it. These people deserve major credit for doing so.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is taking heat from all sides for his bizarre and treacherous move on Syria and Turkey. Republican Senators including Mitt Romney and (surprisingly) Lindsey Graham are calling it a “disaster.” It appears Trump’s stunt is only serving to accelerate his own inevitable downfall.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report