Trump threatens to 'totally destroy and obliterate' Turkey's economy if it takes 'off-limits' actions in Syria

• President Donald Trump threatened to demolish the Turkish economy on Monday if it engages in actions that are "off-limits" during an anticipated military offensive against US-allied Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.
• The tweets come after a late Sunday statement from the White House effectively green-lighting a Turkish military operation in northern Syria.
• The Kurds have been among the strongest American partners in the war against the Islamic State, but Turkey has long viewed them as a terrorist insurgency.
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President Donald Trump threatened to demolish the Turkish economy on Monday if it engages in actions that are "off-limits" during an anticipated military offensive against US-allied Kurdish fighters in northern Syria.

"As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I've done before!)" Trump tweeted.

Turkey is a member of the NATO alliance, making it highly unusual for the US president to threaten economic war on the ally. Trump rebuked the Turkish and European governments and suggested they weren't shouldering enough of the responsibilities in fighting the Islamic State. 

"It is time now for others in the region, some of great wealth, to protect their own territory," Trump tweeted.

The Turkish economy is in the middle of a yearlong recession, with a battered currency and high inflation. Economists say the Turkish economy will contract 0.3% this year after a decade of strong growth. It's not clear which punitive actions Trump could take against the NATO ally for an operation his administration has endorsed.

Earlier in the day, in a rambling tweetstorm, Trump said the US was being played for "a sucker" and chastised the US's own Kurdish allies, who he said were "paid massive amounts of money and equipment" to combat the militants. The Kurdish forces have largely borne the brunt of the Islamic State fighting, with the US supporting them with military supplies and air strikes. 

Read more: Trump defended his controversial decision to pull US forces out of Syria in a rambling tweetstorm

The tweets come after a late Sunday statement from the White House that effectively green-lighted Turkish military operations in Syria. The US announced it would withdraw its troops from the area, though US officials later told The New York Times the estimated 100 to 150 American soldiers wouldn't be withdrawn from the country.

The Kurds have been among the strongest American partners in the war against the Islamic State, but Turkey has long viewed them as a terrorist insurgency and a threat to its border. Trump's decision set off criticism that America was abandoning an ally, and it could endanger progress made against the Islamic State.

SEE ALSO: Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's staunchest defenders, is slamming the president over his decision to pull out of northern Syria and says the White House is lying about ISIS

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