Donald Trump has the dubious gift of surprising friend and foe over and over again.
The lone announcement by the US President to withdraw US forces from northern Syria has left Washington's Democrats and Republicans utterly cold.
Trump's plans are rejected by politicians across party lines with vehemence that is unusual for Washington. Above all, the clarity with which Republicans face up to the President, it is in itself. The party friends seem to despair of Trump's decision downright.
A change of course of the president is simply unacceptable for them. Practically all of the republican foreign and security politicians warn that the Turkish army can now virtually invade northern Syria with Trump's blessing. It could be the Kurdish troops, who fight so far together with the US against the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS), the end, is the fear. So far, the US troops in the region, mostly special forces, as it were as a shield between Kurds and Turks.
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In Trump's party, they see big, fundamental issues of US foreign policy touched. It is about the reliability of Washington as an ally, the American strategy in the Middle East and the long-term security of their own country from terrorist attacks.
"A catastrophic mistake"
Particularly noteworthy is the comment by Mitch McConnell , the powerful majority Republican leader in the Senate. He called on the president "urgently" to prove in Syria American "leadership" and to leave the US troops there, he said. Iran, the Assad regime and IS alone would benefit from an American withdrawal.
My statement on Turkey and US partners in Syria. https://t.co/6ha3zUhSQO
- Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 7, 2019Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley , also a Republican, became even more vocal: "The Kurds were extremely important in our successful fight against the IS militia in Syria." It was completely wrong to let her die now, she wrote on Twitter. "We must always be our allies if we expect them to stand with us as well."
We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back. The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to the is a big mistake. #TurkeyIsNotOurFriend
- Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) October 7, 2019Representative Liz Cheney , daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, said Trump's decision was a "catastrophic mistake." The government should not withdraw from the fight against the "Islamic State", she warned. The President ignores an important lesson from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Cheney said: "Terrorists can and will use safe havens thousands of miles away to attack the US."
Even Republican senator Lindsey Graham , otherwise one of Trump's most loyal friends, sharply attacked the president saying the decision was "short-sighted and irresponsible," he criticized. It could be America's enemies alone. Graham announced a joint resolution by Republicans and Democrats in the Senate calling on the President to withdraw his decision.
Ausgewählten the map of Zusammenarbeit
Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell in the White House Rose Garden (2017): Even Senate Majority Leader Republican criticizes the President's plan
PR offensive from the White House
Meanwhile, Trump defends his course. He pretends to fulfill his election pledge to withdraw as many US troops as possible from "unnecessary wars". The Kurds now have to settle their affairs themselves.
Apparently, however, the President also notes that he might have gone too far with his cocky withdrawal announcement. On Monday, the White House and the Pentagon were frantically trying to reassure critics in their own ranks with a public-relations initiative.
It had made it clear to Turkey that an attack on the Syrian Kurds was unacceptable, it was reassuring in the US government. It will not withdraw completely from Syria. It was simply about protecting a "comparatively small number" of US soldiers who were to be withdrawn from the northern march so that they would not be involved in fighting between Turks and Kurds.
Trump himself expressed similar, but in his own way, with a bizarre threat against the NATO partner Turkey. If Ankara took steps that he considered taboo in his "great and unprecedented wisdom," he would "completely destroy and eradicate the Turkish economy," he tweeted. He also pointed out that the US withdrawal was only about 50 soldiers in the immediate border area.
In Washington, it is now puzzled over why Trump the change in US policy in Syria just now takes place. US media reports that Trump was informed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about an impending invasion of northern Syria on Sunday evening and had therefore spontaneously decided to withdraw their own troops. He was made by the Turks almost before fait accompli, but apparently did nothing to keep Erdogan from his plans.
It is also possible that Trump saw in the decision a welcome opportunity, at least for a few days, to divert attention from the Ukraine affair and the threat of impeachment.
Republicans let off steam
Either way, the maneuver may already be regarded as a failure: The thrust may bring Trump as usual the applause of his most loyal fans at the party base, but in the influential circles of the party in Washington should be solidified with the confusion only the impression that the President in US foreign policy more and more surprises. It almost seems as if many party friends are using the Syria decision to finally let off steam against Trump.
At the same time, the - still - small group of party-internal opponents, who dare to openly criticize Trump in the Ukraine affair, should now feel encouraged. Above all Mitt Romney: The Utah senator is increasingly becoming the spokesman for a new anti-Trump movement within the Republican Party.
Whether there will be a sufficient number of Republican senators in the end, who will vote against Trump in a possible impeachment trial, is of course another whole question. Trump continues to hold the Republicans firmly under control.
But the sharp protest against his Syria policy shows: There is below the surface quite a dissatisfaction with this president. And if party leaders in Washington were to face Trump one day, it probably would not be in droplets, but in a big wave, like breaking a dam.