Syria walk-backs underscore the rashness of Trump's initial withdrawal announcement

By James Hohmann
January 7 at 8:27 AM

With Joanie Greve

THE BIG IDEA: Tweet first, ask questions later.

That’s been President Trump’s approach to a host of issues — think of the transgender troop ban — but perhaps nowhere more so than on Syria.

Since his abrupt announcement three weeks ago that he was immediately pulling U.S. forces out of the country, the president has appeared to vacillate under pressure from hawkish Republicans. And his own top aides have contradicted him as they lay out conditions for withdrawal that create wiggle room to keep boots on the ground.

“I never said we're doing it that quickly, but we're decimating ISIS,” Trump told reporters Sunday morning as he headed for Camp David. “With that being said, we're pulling out of Syria. But … we won't be finally pulled out until ISIS is gone.”

That’s a big but. It’s also at odds with Trump’s initial announcement that the U.S. would depart within 30 days and that the Islamic State has been defeated, not “decimated.”

Meanwhile, visiting Jerusalem to reassure Israeli leaders on Sunday, White House national security adviser John Bolton acknowledged that pockets of the Islamic State remain undefeated and argued that a quick pullout could endanger U.S. forces. He pledged that the Kurds in Syria would be protected and added that “the defense of Israel and other friends in the region is absolutely assured.”

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