Rand Paul praises President Trump for pulling troops out of Syria, slams GOP critics as 'neocon war caucus'

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has repeatedly heaped praise on President Donald Trump since the White House announced Sunday that the United States would be pulling American troops out of Syria, and referred to his fellow Republicans speaking out against the president's move as the "neocon war caucus."

What are the details?

Several of the president's allies — including Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Lynn Cheney (R-Wyo.), and former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley — publicly voiced their opposition to the U.S. troop withdrawal from Northern Syria following the Trump administration's announcement, saying the exit of American forces from the area would leave Kurdish forces vulnerable to attacks from Turkey.

But Sen. Paul's take is that President Trump was simply following through with his campaign pledge to bring American troops home from longstanding engagements in the Middle East. The Kentucky Republican tweeted 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."

He added, "So many neocons want us to stay in wars all over the Middle East forever. @realDonaldTrump is absolutely right to end those wars and bring the troops home."

That afternoon, Neil Cavuto at Fox News told Paul during an interview, "A lot of people in your own party, from Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, Nikki Haley, and on and on and on, say this is a travesty, it's a bad move, it emboldens our enemies. What do you say?"

"Well, it sounded like you just listed the neocon war caucus of the Senate," Paul replied. "So, yes, they always want to stay at war. They always think it's the best answer."

Anything else?

Paul has been a staunch critic of America's extended stays in overseas wars since taking office, often standing alone in his stance while facing accusation of being an isolationist. Earlier this year, The Hill noted, Paul criticized his Republican colleagues for "warning the administration against pulling troops from Syria or Afghanistan."

The senator told Fox News at the time, "To call it a precipitous withdrawal after 17 years is ludicrous," referring to Afghanistan, reiterating, "We've been there 17 years."