When dealing with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, it’s never a good idea to give Erdogan a misleading impression of your intent. To do so unleashes the Turkish leader’s worse impulses: emotional instability and unpredictable behavior.

I note this in the context of President Trump’s newly delayed withdrawal of military forces from Syria. Trump originally pledged to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria following a phone call with Erdogan a few weeks ago. But over the past few days, national security adviser John Bolton has told the Turkish government that the U.S. will only withdraw once Turkey assures it won’t annihilate America’s Kurdish allies in northern Syria.