Trump effectively condemned a tireless partner of the U.S. military, the Kurdish general Mazloum Abdi, to death. Kelly called Kevin Sweeney, Mattis’s chief of staff, to let him know what Trump had just done. “He told Erdogan we’re pulling out of Syria,” Kelly said. Sweeney knew this spelled disaster. Words failed him at first. “Phhhhhfffft,” he exhaled. “Fuck.”
