Washington (CNN) At a photo op with the Italian President on Wednesday, President Donald Trump was asked about his decision to remove American troops from northern Syria. Here's how he responded:

"It's been going on for a long time. Syria may have some help with Russia. And that's fine. It's a lot of sand. There's a lot of sand over there. So, there's a lot of sand that they can play with."

Yes, really. The President of the United States, with a foreign leader sitting next to him, said the following about an ongoing onslaught by the Turks against Kurds in northern Syria: "There's a lot of sand over there. ... There's a lot of sand that they can play with."

Just sit with that for a minute.

OK, now. There have been some attempts within the Republican Party -- even among those critical of the move -- to try to fit Trump's decision to remove US forces from northern Syria as part of some sort of broader strategic goal. Comments like Trump's "sand" one seem to prove that those justifications are just that: justifications.

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