Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, on Thursday questioned President Trump’s decision to withdraw a contingent of U.S. forces from northern Syria that opened the door to sweeping Turkish invasion, calling the president’s move “weak.”

“It’s really a sad state now and I don’t understand why a president who claims he’s the toughest president ever would do such a weak move like this,” the Illinois Republican said in an interview on CNN. Mr. Kinzinger served in Iraq and Afghanistan in the U.S. Air Force.

Turkey on Wednesday unleashed its military forces across the Syrian border on U.S.-allied Syrian Kurdish forces, drawing near-global condemnation and sparking chaos as civilians ran for cover amid air and artillery strikes that are likely to be just the first wave of a lengthy, bloody assault.

Mr. Trump on Sunday announced the withdrawal of U.S. forces who have been assisting American-backed Kurdish-led fighters in a key buffer zone along the Turkey-Syria border.

“I guarantee those 50 American advisers were all teary eyed when they walked away from those people they trained and fought with,” Mr. Kinzinger said.

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