Trump's abrupt decision to pull out of Syria was reportedly made 'instinctively' at the end of his call with Turkey's president

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

• President Trump's decision to withdraw US forces from northern Syria was prompted by a Sunday phone call with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, The New York Times reported.
• Trump's decision to green light a Turkish military incursion into northern Syria, which critics say abandons the US' Kurdish allies, took Pentagon officials by surprise. 
• Trump's impulsive norm-shattering style in phone calls with foreign leaders is coming under increasing scrutiny, with a conversation with Ukraine's leader the focus of an impeachment inquiry. 
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US President Donald Trump impulsively decided to withdraw US troops from northern Syria after a phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to a report Monday in The New York Times.

Details are emerging of the Sunday phone call with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that reportedly led President Donald Trump to declare the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, a move that caught his own national security officials totally by surprise. 

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