blaming the democrats for the shutdown. the media has him boxed in. sara: some comparing this to george h.w. bush s read my lips, no new taxes. when you verbally promise something with cameras involved, you have to be ready for pushback. that s what donald trump is facing. howie: the withdrawal of the 2,000 troops in syria was portrayed as a shocker. but trump did say during the campaign that he s opposed to suspended or endless military entanglements overseas. is he up against the military establishment? mollie: it s actually kind of a crisis. you see the stories about pulling back our presence in syria. that is true that a lot of people in the foreign policy
it s been forced by inaction among both parties. by saying we have to deal with it doesn t mean you are the cause of the problem. it just means this has to get done. howie: essentially trump s style, he did this against the advice of any white house aides. he overruled mattis. does that add to the media. phillippe: when you couple syria with the firing of mattis, because they are the same thing. you have a dynamic that i don t subscribe to that jim mattis was a blanky that made people feel better at night. two weeks ago he win the to the senate intelligence committee.
it s not always so one-sided. mollie: not all the media coverage has been bad. 8 months ago donald trump told general mattis we need to be out of syria in six months, 8 months ago. for years trump said we need to get out of syria. howie: things are pretty volatile. washington is rattled, new york is rattled. what about the media making this all one big bowl of trumpian. mattis resigned, the stock market tanks. cnn s favorite is trump tailspin. mollie: with the stock market the idea that the fed s actions don t play a role.
howie: i m not saying you have to agree with everything mattis has said. phillippe: they have vested so much in him as the last line of defense against trump is more the people saying that and the reality. howie: the establishment s view on most of of this. afghanistan, iraq, syria, more military intervention, more troops, unless reflecting the views of trump supporters which is why are we spending american tax dollars to be in these places for decades. when you bring on foreign policy experts, you are not bringing on moms and dads of people waiting for their kids to come home. mollie: there are people hop support this. we need to bring in average
reporting. mattis has been telling friend, i will never ever quit. the same time trump sent signals he would like mattis to move on. and when he couldn t change the president s mind on syria and afghanistan, i think at that point it was mutual. i can t remember another cabinet officer who was portrayed as being as indispensable as this one. gillian: which is interesting. we have gotten to the point where jim mattis is perceived by the media as an all tar american hero. in 2016 when his name was first circulated. it was jim mattis, mad dog mattis. he s good on the ground. but is he strategic enough. does he have enough policy making experience. suddenly because he and president trump parted way, he s an american hero. howie: heroism can be