Rand Paul: Trump ‘once again fulfills his promises’ with Syrian pullout

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is throwing his support behind President Trump’s decision to pull back U.S. troops from northern Syria.

“I stand with @realDonaldTrump today as he once again fulfills his promises to stop our endless wars and have a true America First foreign policy,” Paul tweeted on Monday.

I stand with @realDonaldTrump today as he once again fulfills his promises to stop our endless wars and have a true America First foreign policy.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) October 7, 2019

{mosads}Paul’s support comes even as many of his colleagues, including those who are on the Foreign Relations Committee with him, have publicly criticized the decision, warning that it will bolster U.S. adversaries, including ISIS, and put the lives of Kurdish allies in the region at risk.

Trump, who made an isolationist foreign policy a center part of his 2016 campaign, has frequently found common ground with Paul when it comes to military and international strategy.

Paul, a libertarian-leaning GOP senator, is viewed as an outlier within the Senate GOP caucus on foreign policy.

Paul knocked his Republican colleagues earlier this year over an amendment, spearheaded by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), warning the administration against pulling troops from Syria or Afghanistan.

“To call it a precipitous withdrawal after 17 years is ludicrous,” Paul said on Fox News at the time. “We’ve been there 17 years.”

Some GOP lawmakers hinted that they saw Paul’s influence behind the White House’s decision.

“Once again @realDonaldTrump uses Rand Paul’s ‘endless wars’ talking points as he orders America to once again abandon our friends and give Russia & Iran exactly what they want. This is wrong,” Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) tweeted.

Once again @realDonaldTrump uses Rand Paul’s “endless wars” talking points as he orders America to once again abandon our friends and give Russia & Iran exactly what they want. This is wrong. #Syria

— Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) October 7, 2019

Noah Wall, the vice president of advocacy at FreedomWorks, praised Trump’s decision.

“President Trump ran on the promise to end America’s involvement in foreign wars. The United States military has been deployed to Syria for the better part of five years now, it’s time to bring the troops home,” he said in a statement.