President Donald Trump challenged Fox News host Brian Kilmeade Monday for criticizing his foreign policy moves in Syria.
“Brian Kilmeade over at Fox and Friends got it all wrong,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We are not going into another war between people who have been fighting with each other for 200 years.”
Kilmeade was sharply critical of Trump’s failure to prevent Turkey’s military offensive in Syria, arguing America was abandoning the Kurds who aligned with the United States to defeat Islamic State. He also warned Trump a thousand Islamic State prisoners were “running wild” in Syria as a result of the conflict.
Kilmeade argued Trump should act in Syria to defend the Kurds, despite his campaign promise to get American troops out of the Middle East.
“Go with realities on the ground. Don’t go with a campaign promise when the reality on the ground is ISIS is targeting us, Al Qaeda is targeting us,” he said.
Turkey invaded Syria last week, allowing hundreds of ISIS supporters to escape in the chaos from a Kurdish camp in Syria, according to Kurdish officials.
But Trump indicated the ISIS prisoners were Europe’s problem.
“Europe had a chance to get their ISIS prisoners, but didn’t want the cost,” Trump said.
He said the Kurds were likely releasing ISIS prisoners to get America engaged in their conflict.
“Easily recaptured by Turkey or European Nations from where many came, but they should move quickly,” Trump said.
He threatened economic sanctions against Turkey for their offensive against the Kurds into Syria but did not signal interest in a military attack leading to another war.
“Big sanctions on Turkey coming!” he wrote. “Do people really think we should go to war with NATO Member Turkey? Never-ending wars will end!”
But Kilmeade said that the threatened sanctions were “too late” to stop the damage against the Kurds in Syria.