The challenge of being Trump's secretary of state

Mike Pompeo, the well filled-out US secretary of state, has returned from his Middle East travels probably somewhat confused. His mission had been to get everyone on board the president's strategy for withdrawing all US troops from Syria while still fighting Isis and keeping the Kurds safe, and the Turks happy. Not an easy combination of ingredients since, on face value, they all seem to cancel each other out. But Pompeo, as a former director of the CIA and with a good political head on his shoulders, probably thought that his large presence in various capitals in the Middle East would help to calm everyone down. But for that to happen, it was imperative that his boss back in the White House focused all his attention on the government shutdown and leave all foreign matters to his secretary of state while he was away. But of course that didn't happen. First of all Trump very helpfully tweeted hat he would "devastate" Turkey's economy if President Erdogan harmed one hair of America's trusty Kurdish allies in northern Syria. What that meant was a little unclear and when Pompeo was asked about it, he drew himself up to his full height and suggested the reporter ask the question of the president but assumed, thinking on his feet, that Trump had in mind sanctions or something. Then he continued on his travels. The president wasn't finished. He rang Erdogan for a chat and came up with a totally different scenario. He agreed that the best thing for the Kurds in Syria and Turkey's worries about Kurdish terrorism against its country was to have a 20-mile security buffer zone set up, a sort of demilitarised zone keeping the Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces well away from the Turkish border. Problem solved. And in return Trump promised wonderful new trade deals with Turkey, thus boosting not devastating the Turkish economy. All this was tweeted, with Trump making it sound like, at a stroke, he had solved the problem all by himself, never mind his secretary of state. I bet Pompeo got no advance warning of this plan. Otherwise he would have raised it during his Middle East travels. Who is going to enforce this security zone in northern Syria isn't clear. Presumably not by US troops because they are beginning to withdraw. But for the moment Trump has managed to delay a Turkish army invasion of northern Syria and the attempted annihilation of the Kurds. All without any apparent input from Pompeo. There's no point in Pompeo going to the White House and saying to Trump, "Hey, Mr President, thanks a bunch for making my job impossible, what the .... is going on?" Trump would just reply, "I decided the only person who can do anything around here is me, so don't come whingeing to me. Have a McDonald's Big Mac, I've got dozens left over from yesterday (from the fast-food meal offered to the visiting Clemson Tigers from South Carolina)." Pompeo has no alternative but to keep his mouth shut if he wants to keep his job.