WASHINGTON — U.S. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise has been one of President Donald Trump's fiercest defenders and closest allies, but the Louisiana Republican bucked that reputation when he voted for a bipartisan resolution rebuking Trump's decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northern Syria.

Only 60 Republicans voted Wednesday against the resolution — a formal statement in opposition to Trump's decision to end U.S. efforts that have been in place to prevent Turkish military operations against Syrian Kurdish forces who have been U.S. allies in the fight against terrorism.

Appearing on Lou Dobbs Tonight on Fox Business, Scalise defended his vote and argued the U.S. presence in northern Syria is integral to containing Islamic State terrorists.

"It's more focused on what is the endgame with containing ISIS," he said. "We know there are thousands (of terrorists) who are being held in prisons, we want to make sure they don't get released from those prisons."

Thursday, the Trump administration announced it brokered a cease-fire agreement with Turkish leaders to temporarily suspend the military offensive and give Kurdish forces time to leave a designated safe zone along the border.

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, was the only member of the Louisiana delegation who voted against the House resolution rebuffing the Trump administration’s decision to move troops out of the area. The resolution hasn't received a vote in the U.S. Senate.

Abraham said he viewed the resolution as the latest step in a “war against (Trump)” waged by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California.

“This Democrat resolution was just another deceitful ploy by Pelosi and her henchmen to create divisions in our party and weaken the president,” Abraham said via Twitter.

Steve Scalise hears from St. Tammany crowd with pro- and anti-Trump sentiments U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise faced a small but restive audience at a town hall meeting Monday in St. Tammany Parish, with some attendees saying the…

The resolution, which passed in a 354-60 vote, was largely symbolic, but Scalise’s vote drew strong backlash from some die-hard Trump supporters.

"You voted for it. I don't understand why,” Dobbs, the conservative TV host, pressed during a live broadcast. “I would think you guys would say, ‘Nancy Pelosi is for it, I sure as hell better be against it.'”

Scalise cited his frequent criticism of the House Democrat-led impeachment inquiry and other times he has been on Trump's side. Trump himself hasn’t publicly expressed hard feelings over Scalise’s vote, and affectionately called him “my Steve” during an appearance Wednesday.

"I stand with President Trump," Scalise told Dobbs.

Scalise was among those who attended a White House meeting Wednesday to discuss bipartisan concerns and, he said, the need for tougher sanctions on Turkey. It ultimately turned contentious, and Pelosi and U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, abruptly left.

Trump tweeted a photo from that meeting that has since gone viral. In it, Pelosi is the only person standing. She’s facing Trump and several of his male supporters, including Scalise, who can be seen taking notes at the back of the table a few seats down from the president.

Trump described the interaction as Pelosi having an "unhinged meltdown."

Scalise said the photo is proof that Pelosi was “clearly the aggressor” in the meeting.

"We actually had a civil conversation after (Pelosi and Schumer) stormed out,” Scalise said.

Pelosi has since made the photo the backdrop to her Twitter profile.

Pelosi described the scene in the photo during a meeting with reporters Thursday.

“At that moment I was probably saying, ‘All roads lead to Putin,’” she said.

Before leaving the meeting, Pelosi said she and Schumer asked Trump for a detailed plan for fighting ISIS without help from the Kurds and didn’t believe that there was an adequate plan in place.

She said that, around the time the photo was taken, she had noted an earlier House resolution vote as evidence of disapproval of Trump’s actions.

“One or the other of those things what was being said,” she said.

She pushed back at Trump and other Republicans have characterized the meeting.

“I think it would be interesting if we could have a recording of what goes on in those offices, because — oh, they come out and say, ‘Oh, this happened and that happened.’ You're like, we must have been at two different meetings because that didn't happen,” she said.

During the meeting, Trump distributed a letter he wrote to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warning that history would "look upon you forever as the devil if good things don't happen."

"Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool!" Trump wrote.

BBC News reported Erdogan quickly threw the letter in the trash.

"It was a very tough letter, I thought," Scalise said. "A very good letter."