How Jack Abramoff’s Old Lobbying Firm Became Turkey’s Biggest Defender
President Donald Trump poses with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a dinner in Paris, France on November 10, 2018.Anadolu Agency/Getty The effects of Turkey’s invasion of northern Syria are still rippling through the Middle East, as the Kurds—who until recently were America’s staunchest allies in the fight against ISIS—face the prospect of ethnic cleansing.…
Trump Keeps Eyeing Syria’s Oil—But There’s Not Much There
US soldiers at the Omar oil field in eastern Syria in March 2019.Delil Souleiman/Getty As he announced the death of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi this morning, President Donald Trump reiterated his desire to keep some US troops in Syria to secure control of its oil. “The oil is so valuable,” he said. ISIS had…
Trump Announces ISIS Founder’s Death in a Boastful, Rambling Press Conference
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on October 27, 2019.Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP This morning, President Donald Trump announced that US special forces killed Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the founder and leader of the global terrorism group ISIS, in a raid in in northwestern Syria late Saturday. “Last night, the United…
Trump’s Evangelical Base Is Cracking Over Syria. Now He’s Scrambling to Keep His “Mandate of Heaven.”
Evan Vucci/AP When President Donald Trump appeared on Saturday night at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC, he was speaking to an audience of his most loyal supporters. But for the first time in his administration, he had done something that had awakened the long slumbering consciences of prominent evangelical leaders and their flocks.…
Congress Prepares to Unload on Trump’s Disastrous Syria Policy
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty When President Donald Trump announced his decision to permit a Turkish invasion of northeastern Syria last week, outraged lawmakers were on recess and left with little recourse to register their concerns about the fate of the Kurds outside of Twitter and the Sunday news shows. Now they are assembling back in Washington for…
Mayor Pete Decries Trump’s Decision to Withdraw Troops from Northern Syria
Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg speaks during a forum on Friday, June 21, 2019, in Miami.Brynn Anderson Democratic presidential candidate and South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg excoriated President Donald Trump and his administration Sunday morning for the decision to withdraw the remaining US troops out of northern Syria in the…