Trump defends abandoning Kurds because 'they didn't help us in the 2nd World War' or in 'Normandy'

President Trump.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

To President Trump, the Kurds don't exactly deserve America's help.

Trump drew nearly universal condemnation after his Sunday night decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria and let Turkey invade the Kurdish-held area, especially considering the Kurds helped the U.S. fight ISIS in the region. But Trump doesn't quite understand why many people are calling his move a betrayal, seeing as the Kurds "didn't help us in the second World War, they didn't help us with Normandy," he said in a Wednesday press conference.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Trump spun on several other topics during the press conference, suggesting that former Vice President Joe Biden would "get the electric chair" if he were a Republican and mocking Golden State Warriors' Coach Steve Kerr as a "little boy" for his response to the NBA's China controversy.

Explore More

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.