Facing scathing criticism from Republican lawmakers and members of his own military, President Donald Trump on Monday sought to project a harder line on Turkey as the country pushes further into northern Syria.
Trump said he was applying harsh new sanctions on certain Turkish officials, and in a phone call with Turkish President President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Trump “could not have been more firm” in expressing his displeasure at the incursion, according to Vice President Mike Pence, who updated reporters at the White House on Monday evening.
Pence said he would travel soon to Turkey to help broker some type of ceasefire between Turkey, Syria and the Kurdish forces who have aligned with the Syrian regime after US troops – with whom the Kurds were previously allied – withdrew from the area.
After days of withering criticism from many Republicans and national security veterans, Monday’s developments reflected an attempt by the White House to adopt a firmer stance as northern Syria descends into mayhem.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the new sanctions would be slapped on the Turkish ministers of defense, interior and energy. But even as Trump was preparing the economic punishment, a bipartisan group on Capitol Hill was finalizing their own sanctions, threatening to undermine the President’s attempts at confronting the growing crisis.
The scramble to apply new sanctions came after Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, a move that paved the way for Turkey’s military offensive. Even some of Trump’s fiercest defenders have questioned his decision, and senior national security veterans have decried the move as abandoning Kurdish allies.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday morning that she spoke on the phone with Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Trump’s staunchest allies who nonetheless opposes his Syria policy, about potential sanctions. They later tweeted that they agree “we must have a bipartisan, bicameral joint resolution to overturn the President’s dangerous decision in Syria immediately.”
While Mnuchin and Trump have both threatened to retaliate economically against Turkey, neither have outlined specific criteria that would trigger the response. Lawmakers, however, are signaling they have already seen enough from Turkish forces to move ahead with sanctions. A senior Republican Senate aide claimed on Monday morning that US sanctions for Turkey are “being driven by the Senate, not the administration.”
The Graham-Van Hollen bill, which would be the most likely vehicle for moving sanctions through Congress, would sanction the assets of top Turkish leaders – including its President – and bar transactions involving the Turkish defense and energy sectors, among other penalties.
But despite the momentum behind the legislation, some Democrats argue that Republicans should still do more to urge Trump
to change course.
“Spare me the nonsense on sanctions,” wrote Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy. “People are being slaughtered RIGHT NOW. Bombs are dropping on children RIGHT NOW. Instead of drafting sanctions bills, Republicans should use their massive leverage over the President to get him to change course. RIGHT NOW.”
