Gingrich praises Trump for extending olive branch to Syria
'When the Crown Prince [of Saudi Arabia] and the president of Turkey both asked him [Trump] to give Syria, the new Syrian government, a chance, he intuitively just said, 'Sure,'' Gingrich told hosts John Catsimatidis & Rita Cosby on the 'Cats & Cosby Show' on Wednesday.
Gingrich, the longtime Republican leader, noted that other presidential teams would have taken months to arrive at the same conclusion, bringing in 'so-called experts' to advise the commander-in-chief to be careful, while arriving at the same conclusion.
'Trump knows he's taking a gamble. He knows the guy he's dealing with as the head of Syria was a terrorist — is still on the terrorist list — and he knows that it's a gamble. What he's also saying to Turkey and to Saudi Arabia, you know, 'I'm going to do my part. Now you guys have got to step in here and clean this act up.''
Trump met with interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, a day after he announced he would roll back sanctions on Syria at the urging of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The sanctions had been imposed against the former Bashar Assad regime amid a brutal civil war, which came to a head late last year when Syrian rebels drove out the Assad government.
'Oh, what I do for the crown prince,' Trump said with a laugh Monday. 'The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important function … but now it's [Syria's] time to shine.'
Gingrich said Trump's efforts in Syria are strategically impressive, saying they serve to further isolate Iran and Russia, which had backed Syria's government in the war.
'[Trump] also understands that a Syria which is now relating to America, further isolates Iran, because Syria was the last major ally that Iran had,' Gingrich said. 'It also, frankly, undermines Putin, because the Russians have made a major investment in Syria.'
'And so, in this one step, he strengthens his ties to Saudi Arabia and Turkey. He isolates Iran. And he eliminates Russia from that part of the world,' Gingrich continued.
Gingrich attributed the strategy to Trump's instincts.
'Now that's a pretty remarkable— and I'm sure it was spur-of-the-moment, I'm sure, because that's how Trump operates. He has greater faith in his own instincts than in the so-called professionals who have not done a very good job in the Middle East.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
22 minutes ago
- CNBC
Virginia drops in America's Top States for Business rankings. Federal job cuts are a big reason
Six months into his second term in office, President Trump has begun to fundamentally change the relationship between the federal government and the states. In the process, he has shaken up CNBC's annual competitiveness ranking, America's Top States for Business. Virginia, last year's No. 1 state and a top three finisher in each of the last five years, slips to fourth place in 2025 — its worst showing since 2018 — and cedes the No. 1 spot to North Carolina. A major reason is a drop in the state's Economy ranking, to No. 14 in 2025 from No. 11 last year. Economy is the heaviest weighted category in the study under this year's methodology as more states pitch themselves as safe havens in a potential downturn. Virginia is already seeing a small downturn of sorts, as the Trump administration sets out to slash the federal workforce. That hits The Old Dominion where it lives. The federal government accounted for more than 144,000 jobs in Virginia last year, according to the Congressional Research Service. That is a larger percentage of the workforce than any state except Maryland and Hawaii. And that doesn't include Virginians who work for federal contractors, or commute to federal jobs elsewhere in the D.C. metro area. Include all of those, and the number approaches 300,000. In May, Virginia was one of only three states whose unemployment rate rose from the prior month, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state is still adding jobs each month, albeit at a slower pace than last year, and Virginia's 3.4% unemployment rate in May was still below the national average. But the slowdown — and the fact that many of the federal job cuts have yet to be reflected in the official numbers — concerns University of Virginia economist Eric Scorsone, Executive Director of the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. "Virginia has been an economy, historically, that is pretty resilient," he said. "But now, we're seeing something quite different, where Virginia is seeing some job losses, or at least job stagnation, whereas the nation as a whole is still creating jobs." The Center's most recent forecast, published in April, calls for the state to lose 32,000 jobs this year, with the job losses accelerating as the year goes on. While Scorsone said those job losses will occur primarily in the federal sector, he also sees a ripple effect. "Things like leisure and accommodations," he said. "As people lose jobs, they're going to spend less on those things, [and] maybe in retail," he added. Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, says the state can absorb those federal job cuts. In February, the state launched a web site, targeting displaced workers with job listings and other resources from across the state. "We have 250,000 open jobs posted that are unfilled. And so, there's a great opportunity for folks to find a new opportunity, new job, new career," Youngkin said on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on April 15. A recent check of the site showed that the number of openings has shrunk to 199,000 as jobs have been filled and private sector hiring has slowed. That still would appear to be more than enough for the federal workers likely to be displaced. But Scorsone said it is not that simple. "Virginia's federal workforce is different than, say, other states. Our workforce tends to be highly educated, professional executive level," he said. "Many of the jobs that are open may be in different sectors, like health care. You can't just easily move into a health care job if that's not your area of expertise," he added. In his CNBC appearance in April, Youngkin acknowledged the likelihood that the state will lose jobs, and that the private sector alternatives will not be an exact fit for many displaced government employees. "Listen, they're not perfect matches," he said. "They're high paying, good jobs that require someone to possibly get some retraining or re-skilling, or go into a new field, but they're really good jobs." Youngkin said the budget cuts, and job losses, are necessary. "We need to rein in spending and re-establish fiscal reality back into the federal government," he said, adding that Virginia goes into the upheaval from a position of strength. "We're seeing record surpluses in our budgets. We're able to use those surpluses to reduce taxes and invest in education and law enforcement and other investments in business development," Youngkin said. Indeed, Virginia is still a business powerhouse, with the top Education ranking in the CNBC study, and the second best rating for Infrastructure. Over time, no state has performed better than Virginia in the CNBC rankings. The state has taken top honors six times since the project began in 2007. But in 2025, with economic anxiety rising, Virginia's economic situation is just shaky enough to take it down a few pegs.
CNBC
22 minutes ago
- CNBC
46. Louisiana
Governor: Jeff Landry, Republican Population: 4,597,740 GDP growth (Q1 2025): -1.7% Unemployment rate (May 2025): 4.5% Top corporate tax rate: 7.5% Top individual income tax rate: 4.25% Gasoline tax: 39.33 cents/gallon Bond rating (Moody's/S&P): Aa2, Stable/AA, Stable Economic profile sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federation of Tax Administrators, Energy Information Administration (including 18.40 cent/gallon federal tax), Moody's Investor Service, S&P Global Market Intelligence
CNBC
22 minutes ago
- CNBC
9. Indiana
Governor: Mike Braun, Republican Population: 6,924,275 GDP growth (Q1 2025): -0.6% Unemployment rate (May 2025): 3.7% Top corporate tax rate: 4.9% Top individual income tax rate: 3.05% Gasoline tax: 70.90 cents/gallon Bond rating (Moody's/S&P): Aaa, Stable/AAA, Stable Economic profile sources: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Federation of Tax Administrators, Energy Information Administration (including 18.40 cent/gallon federal tax), Moody's Investor Service, S&P Global Market Intelligence
