President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday over sharp bipartisan criticism of his decision to pull back US troops from northeastern Syria, saying he is focused on the "BIG PICTURE" that does not include American involvement in "stupid endless wars" in the Middle East.
"Fighting between various groups that has been going on for hundreds of years. USA should never have been in Middle East," Trump said in a series of morning tweets.
"The stupid endless wars, for us, are ending!"
Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a close Trump ally, stepped up his criticism of the president Wednesday, telling "Fox & Friends" that if Trump "follows through with this, it would be the biggest mistake of his presidency."
"I hope he's right. I don't think so," Graham said, comparing Trump's views to the "pre-9/11 mentality that paved the way for 9/11."
Trump defended his unpopular decision, arguing on Twitter that "GOING INTO THE MIDDLE EAST IS THE WORST DECISION EVER MADE IN THE HISTORY OF OUR COUNTRY!"
He said the US went to war under a "false & now disproven premise, WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. There were NONE!"
"We're not giving Turkey a green light in Congress and we're not going to abandon the Kurds," he said. "If the President does so, we won't."