SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has once again sharply criticized President Donald Trump, this time calling the president’s sudden decision to pull out troops from northern Syria a “betrayal” of the Kurds that “says America is an unreliable ally.”
Romney had plenty of company Monday, unlike last week when he was one of the few Republicans who condemned Trump for publicly asking China to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, his chief Democratic rival in the 2020 presidential race.
“The President’s decision to abandon our Kurd allies in the face of an assault by Turkey is a betrayal. It says that America is an unreliable ally; it facilitates ISIS resurgence; and it presages another humanitarian disaster,” Romney said on Twitter in response to a tweet raising similar concerns by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Graham, usually one of the president’s more ardent defenders, warned Trump’s Syria decision is “a disaster in the making” that will cause chaos in the region. He told Fox News, “I like President Trump. I’ve tried to help him. This, to me, is just unnerving to its core.”
Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also are sounding the alarm.
Even Utah Rep. Chris Stewart, a Republican who often supports the president and his policies, disagreed with Trump.
“I disagree with the President & his decision to withdraw troops from Syria. Abandoning our Kurdish allies will have devastating impacts on our national security and potentially allow ISIS to regain control of the region,” Stewart tweeted Monday afternoon.
In a subsequent tweet, Stewart, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said, “President Trump must not make the same mistakes President Obama did. I will continue to press the White House to protect our Kurdish allies & security interests in the region.”
Utah Sen. Mike Lee, however, backed the president’s policy in a statement.
“Congress has never declared war or authorized the use of military force in Syria. While I remain concerned with Turkey’s behavior and the threat they pose to the Kurds, I support President Trump’s decision to draw down U.S. armed forces from Syria,” Lee said.
“Our founding fathers established a system of separated powers between three branches and gave Congress the power to declare war,” Lee said, calling for a restoration of Congress’ power. “Members of Congress have already begun discussing steps the U.S. can take to support the Kurds and deter Turkey. I look forward to engaging in those conversations.”
Romney also tweeted that the president’s troop plan “is ultimately a victory for Assad, Russia, Iran, and ISIS. The Administration must immediately reconsider withdrawing the few remaining U.S. troops who are playing a vital peacekeeping role.”
Later, Romney, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism, issued a joint statement with the ranking member, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut. The pair recently held a subcommittee hearing on U.S. strategy in Syria.
In the joint statement, Romney and Murphy said the president’s decision “will have grave humanitarian and national security consequences. After enlisting support from the Kurds to help destroy ISIS and assuring Kurdish protection from Turkey, the U.S. has now opened the door to their destruction.”
They said the Trump administration must immediately reconsider that plan or come before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “and explain to the American people how betraying an ally and ceding influence to terrorists and adversaries is not disastrous for our national security interests.”
Trump made the announcement late Sunday, and on Monday, amid pushback from Republicans in Congress, tweeted that, “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey.”
Over the weekend, Trump responded repeatedly to Romney’s own statements on Twitter Friday, saying, “the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling” and that “it strains credulity to suggest that it is anything other than politically motivated.”
In a series of tweets, the president labeled Romney “a pompous ‘ass’” and came up with a hashtag, “#IMPEACHMITTROMNEY.” Sunday, he tweeted, “The Democrats are lucky that they don’t have any Mitt Romney types. They may be lousy politicians, with really bad policies (Open Borders, Sanctuary Cities etc.), but they stick together!”