As even Republican lawmakers and foreign policy experts reel over Donald Trump’s unilateral decision to abandon Kurdish allies to an assault from Turkey in Syria, the president himself apparently has an explanation: “I have a little conflict of interest” concerning Turkey.
“I have a little conflict of interest ’cause I have a major, major building in Istanbul,” Trump boasted in response. “It’s a tremendously successful job. It’s called Trump Towers — two towers, instead of one, not the usual one; it’s two. And I’ve gotten to know Turkey very well. They’re amazing people, they’re incredible people. They have a strong leader.”
Trump still profits from Trump Towers in Istanbul, and the “strong leader” then was the same as now: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a late Sunday phone call with Erdogan, Trump suddenly agreed to let Turkey occupy a strip of northern Syria, currently controlled by ethnic Kurds who have been America’s most effective allies in battling the so-called Islamic State. Now supporters fear a U.S.-enabled slaughter of the Kurds, who have a centuries-long dispute with Turkey over self-rule.
Towers...