Trump vs. Military Chiefs: POTUS Faces Attacks From Former Leaders

Topline: Ever since Trump controversially announced that U.S. troops would withdraw from Syria, his decision has faced mounting backlash, as many former military leaders increasingly criticize the president.

t
• In a recent New York Times op-ed, retired U.S. Navy admiral William McRaven, a former commander of the United States Special Operations Command, criticized Trump's disregard for U.S. values, writing: "If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us?"
t
• Also Thursday, Trump's former defense secretary Jim Mattis highlighted the importance of America's Kurdish allies and (responding to Trump's jab that he is "the world's most overrated general") made a few jokes at the president's expense.
t
• The recently retired Army general who led the fight against ISIS, Joseph Votel, expressed his disappointment in an earlier op-ed for The Atlantic, calling Trump's decision an "abrupt policy" that looks to have "abandon[ed] our Kurdish partners."
t
• Former four-star Army general Jack Keane, who reportedly declined Trump's offer to be secretary of defense in 2016, earlier this month called the U.S. withdrawal in Syria "a strategic blunder of significant consequence."
t
• John Allen, a retired four-star Marine general, emphasized the chaos created by Trump's decision: "We don't do strategy, and we shouldn't be doing foreign policy, by tweet," he told CNN, adding, "there is blood on Trump's hands for abandoning our Kurdish allies."
t
• Several other high-ranking, recently retired generals who remained anonymous told The Atlantic about Trump's seemingly haphazard decision-making process: "He's kind of shooting blind" and "he's reflexively contrary," they said in interviews.

Crucial quote: "I earned my spurs on the battlefield ... and Donald Trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor," Mattis joked in his speech last night, referring to the bone spurs that reportedly kept Trump from having to serve in the Vietnam War.

Key background: Trump's decision to pull troops out of Syria has been met with unprecedented criticism from lawmakers on both sides, including top Republicans. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, for instance, said he was "gravely concerned" about the situation, while Republican senator Lindsey Graham, a long-time Trump ally, said, "Pray for our Kurdish allies who have been shamelessly abandoned by the Trump Administration."

Tangent: Trump reportedly "liked" news of McRaven's op-ed on Twitter (it appears to have been un-liked).