Vice President Mike Pence will lead a U.S. delegation to Turkey Wednesday to seek a cease-fire from Turkish forces attacking Kurds in northern Syria, President Trump said.
The president said Mr. Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will bring with them to Turkey the threat of more U.S. economic sanctions if Ankara doesn’t agree to the cease-fire.
“We put the strongest sanctions that you can imagine,” Mr. Trump said during a Rose Garden event at the White House. “We have a lot in store if they don’t have an impact, including massive tariffs on steel. They [the Turks] ship a lot of steel to the United States. They make a lot of money shipping steel; they won’t be making so much money.”
Mr. Trump said his administration is being “tough” on Turkey and others in the region in an effort to withdraw U.S. troops from the Middle East.
“They have to maintain their own properties now; they have to maintain peace and safety,” the president said of Turkey and its neighbors. “We want to bring our soldiers back home after so many years. They’re the greatest warriors in the world, and they’re policing. They’re not a police force.”
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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