Double Reverse: US troops are not leaving Syria as fast as President Trump announced, according to an announcement by National Security Adviser John Bolton in Israel yesterday.

  Trump had announced a near-immediate withdrawal of 2,000 Americans, but Bolton said that has to wait until the last Islamic State forces are defeated and Turkey guarantees that it will not attack America’s Kurdish allies in Syria.

  “We don’t think the Turks ought to undertake military action that’s not fully coordinated with and agreed to by the United States, at a minimum so they don’t endanger our troops,” Bolton said in Jerusalem. Trump had never put any conditions on the American departure.

  It’s hard to say if this is more chaos in the Trump White House or the restoration of some kind of order. Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned in protest soon after Trump said American forces were leaving Syria.

  The President either agreed to what Bolton announced, or Bolton is out there on his own. There’s no way of knowing in this administration.

Man of Steel: President Trump yesterday said he would build his border wall out of steel rather than concrete if it makes the Democrats happy. Why he thinks that would make a difference is a mystery.

  Trump said in the White house driveway, “ I informed my folks to say that we’ll build a steel barrier,” He said about the Democrats, “They don’t like concrete, so we’ll give them steel.” It’s a wall of any kind they don’t want.

  Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that a simple change of materials and semantic sleight of hand  might give Democrats the opening they need to retreat. “If he has to give up a concrete wall, replace it with a steel fence in order to do that so that Democrats can say, ‘See? He’s not building a wall anymore,’ that should help us move in the right direction,” Mulvaney said. “If that’s not evidence of the president’s desire to try and resolve this, I don’t know what is.”

  The President described talks yesterday led by Vice President Mike Pence as “productive,” but he also held out the option of declaring a national emergency to build the wall.

  The new speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, “The impression you get from the president is that he would like to not only close government, build a wall, but also abolish Congress so the only voice that mattered was his own.”

Broadcast News:Susan Zirinsky, a 40-year veteran of CBS News known as “Z”, is being named the first woman president of the network, replacing  David Rhodes. She takes over in March.

  Rhodes has been president for eight years. He said in a statement that it’s time to pursue new opportunities, which gives this move the odor of a firing. There are few greater things in broadcast news than to be president of CBS News. The network has been in turmoil since the firing of morning host Charlie Rose and “60 Minutes” producer Jeff Fager. 

Avenged:One of the plotters of the 2000 attack on the US destroyer Cole has been killed in an air strike, the Pentagon confirmed yesterday. Jamal al-Badawi was taken out in Yemen.

Statuary:The movies “Green Book” and  “Bohemian Rhapsody” were the big winners last night at the Golden Globe awards in a ceremony pumped up by celebration of diversity and the rising power of women in Hollywood. “Green Book,” a movie about race relations in the deep South of the 1960s, took three awards, including best movie, musical or comedy. “Rhapsody” won best drama and its lead actor, Rami Malek, best actor. 

   Veteran Glenn Close beat Lady Gaga for best actress, whose turn in “A Star Is Born,” was her first leading role in a movie. Close who won for “The Wife,” talked about her mother, a woman “who really sublimated herself to my father her whole life.” Close said, “We have to find personal fulfillment” to a standing ovation from women in the audience. “We have to follow our dreams.”

Sanctuary:A young Saudi Arabian woman who renounced Islam and fled her family has barricaded herself in a Thailand hotel room, seeking asylum and permission to travel on to Australia.

  Eighteen-year-old Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun was vacationing with her family in Kuwait when she hopped a plane. The Thais want to return her to her family and the Kingdom.

  Alqunun told Reutersshe was seeking refugee status because of “physical, emotional and verbal abuse and being imprisoned inside the house for months. They threaten to kill me and prevent me from continuing my education. They won’t let me drive or travel. I am oppressed. I love life and work and I am very ambitious but my family is preventing me from living.”

Dept. of Corrections:We mistakenly said yesterday that the suspect in the drive-by shooting of a black 7-year-old girl was white. The shooter was originally described as white, but the man arrested and charged is black. 

Now This:The President of the United States is rattled. Here’s some of his latest this morning: “the Fake News & totally dishonest Media concerning me and my presidency has never been worse. Many have become crazed lunatics who have given up on the TRUTH!… …The Fake News will knowingly lie and demean in order make the tremendous success of the Trump Administration, and me, look as bad as possible. They use non-existent sources & write stories that are total fiction. Our Country is doing so well, yet this is a sad day in America!”

  Yes, it is.

-30-