Graham backs down on Syria after lunch with Trump

Sen. Lindsey Graham. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

Sen. Lindsey Graham backed away Sunday from his criticisms of President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria, telling reporters that Trump shared "some things I didn't know" during a lunch at the White House that "make me feel a lot better about where we're headed in Syria."

Why it matters: Graham's initial goal for the lunch was to change Trump's mind on his decision to pull out of Syria. Graham was a vocal critic of Trump's decision to pull out when it was initially announced, and said it could be a "costly mistake" down the line.

---

"He promised to destroy ISIS. He's going to keep that promise. We're not there yet, but as I said today, we're on the 10 yard line. "

Lindsey Graham

The President will make sure any withdrawal from Syria will be done in a fashion to ensure:

1) ISIS is permanently destroyed.

2) Iran doesn’t fill in the back end, and

3) our Kurdish allies are protected.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 30, 2018

The backstory: Graham has consistently been a senator Trump would lean on when making foreign policy decisions, but was ignored when Trump made his decision on Syria.