On Politics: Trump Throws Middle East Policy in Turmoil

2019年10月8日星期二

October 8, 2019

Good Tuesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today.

Defending his decision to clear the way for a Turkish military operation against the Kurds in northern Syria, President Trump said it was "time for us to get out" and let others "figure the situation out." But after Republican lawmakers condemned the move against America's allies, President Trump pivoted sharply and said he would restrain Turkey, flip-flopping on yet another foreign policy decision.
On Monday, after an abrupt back and forth, Defense Department officials were struggling to put together a cohesive military strategy for Syria.

Mr. Trump is once again pursuing a national security strategy at odds with the official position of his government, demonstrating that in his pursuit of ending America's "endless wars," no troop presence abroad is too small to escape his desire to terminate it.

In impeachment updates: the House on Monday subpoenaed the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget for documents about the Trump administration's decision to withhold security aid from Ukraine.

A judge rejected an argument from Mr. Trump that sitting presidents are immune from criminal investigation. It is the first significant ruling in a case that could require Mr. Trump to hand over his tax returns and could test the limits of presidential power. But the president's tax returns are still protected, for now.

As Senator Bernie Sanders recuperates from a heart attack he suffered while campaigning last Tuesday in Las Vegas, he will inevitably face questions in the coming days as to whether he will continue his presidential campaign and, if so, at what pace.

Heading into 2020, there is a focus among campaign strategists on the weakest element of the Trump coalition: the swing counties that disapproved of both major candidates in 2016 but took a chance on Mr. Trump. Here's a look at one of them.

The escalating impeachment drama between Congress and the White House, which has all but doomed most legislative progress has enhanced the prospects of one major initiative: a sweeping new trade agreement among the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Mr. Trump's acting secretary of Homeland Security was booed off a stage at Georgetown University's law school by demonstrators as they protested the Trump administration's immigration policies.
In the first argument of its new term, the Supreme Court considered whether states may abolish the insanity defense, a question that seemed to puzzle several of the justices. The justices also weighed the constitutionality of non-unanimous juries.

In the latest salvo in a global fight over who gets to set the rules for the modern internet, the Trump administration has begun inserting legal protections into recent trade agreements that shield online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from lawsuits.

Today's On Politics briefing was compiled by Isabella Grullón Paz in New York.

Is there anything you think we're missing? Anything you want to see more of? We'd love to hear from you. Email us at onpolitics@nytimes.com.