Nice try, Donald Trump

| 5:30 pm EDT October 14, 2019
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Earlier today the news broke that Donald Trump’s most cartoonish cheerleader, GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, was seeking the help of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to try to curtail Trump’s disastrous and deadly U.S. military pullout from northern Syria. Pelosi then confirmed on Twitter that she had taken Graham up on his offer.

Sensing that he’s about to be boxed in by bipartisan legislation that he can’t veto, Donald Trump has decided to take action of his own – though not really. Trump posted a tweet this afternoon which spelled out the financial penalties he’s planning to impose on Turkey for its decision to invade northern Syria and slaughter the U.S.-allied Kurds.

Of course no one believes that Trump means a word of this, and the penalties he’s spelling out are more of a slap on the wrist than anything. That’s before getting to the part where Trump told Turkey it could invade the area, and pulled out U.S. troops in order to facilitate the invasion. Also, Trump’s proposed steel tariffs against Turkey are a painfully transparent attempt at boosting Russia’s steel market.

Donald Trump seems intent on driving the Kurds into the arms of Vladimir Putin no matter what, even if it finishes off what little is left of Trump’s dead presidency, and prompts Senate Republicans to oust him. Now that even a Trump ally like Lindsey Graham is trying to force Trump’s hand, he’s offering up these minor sanctions in a feeble effort at fending off the hammer that’s about to drop on his head. Nice try, Trump.