Trump has had enough of Lindsey Graham's Syria criticism

President Trump apparently can't take criticism over his Syria decision from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) anymore.

Trump during a news conference Wednesday went after Graham, who is typically one of his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill, after more than a week of Graham railing against his decision to pull troops back from Syria ahead of a Turkish invasion.

"Lindsey Graham would like to stay in the Middle East for the next thousand years, with thousands of soldiers, and fighting other people's wars," Trump said. "I want to get out of the Middle East. I think Lindsey should focus right now on Judiciary," referring to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Graham chairs.

Subscribe to The Week

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

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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

This came as a response to Graham warning of a "disaster worse than President Obama's decision to leave Iraq" and urging Trump to "adjust his thinking." Clearly, Trump has no plans to do so, suggesting he knows Graham's constituents better than he does.

"The people of South Carolina don't want us to get into a war with Turkey, a NATO member, or with Syria," Trump said. "Let them fight their own wars."

Trump has been defending his Syria decision, saying earlier on Wednesday, "If Turkey goes into Syria that’s between Turkey and Syria. That's not between Turkey and the United States, like a lot of stupid people would like you to believe.” Presumably, Trump is including Graham in this group.

At his press conference, Trump also reminded viewers he made a campaign promise to get out of Syria. Last week, Graham told Axios, "If I hear the president say one more time, 'I made a campaign promise to get out of Syria,' I'm going to throw up." Brendan Morrow