Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of state Mike Pompeo landed in Turkey on Thursday on a rescue mission – to save American interests in Syria amid an increasingly chaotic geopolitical conflict and a fierce domestic bipartisan backlash. 

Pence and Pompeo are tasked with securing a cease-fire agreement from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose forces have invaded northeastern Syria to attack the Kurds. 

Turkey’s invasion, which began shortly after trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region, has unleashed a free-for-all in this corner of Syria, with Russia, Iran and other powers fighting for influence.

“Our mission is to see if we can get a ceasefire, see if we can get it brokered,” Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday, before boarding a plane to Ankara.

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But Erdogan has already rejected trump’s demand for an end to the Turkish attack, shrugging Off white house threats to hit economic sanctions and saying he has no plans to back down. Turkey considers Kurdish fighters who helped U.S. troops fight Islamic state terrorists because of their affiliation with an offshoot known as the Kurdistan workers party, or PKK.

In recent days, trump seemed to almost repeat the talking points of the Turkish conversations. 

Last week, trump called the PKK a “greater terrorist threat” than the Islamic state. And on Wednesday, he said the Kurds are “not angels.” 

Trump also seemed to distance himself from the crisis in Syria, even as he directed Pence and Pompeo to address it.

“This is not our problem,” trump said in the oval office on Wednesday.

Hours later, the House of representatives passed a bipartisan resolution condemning trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, which critics say gave Erdogan the green light to invade Kurdish-held territory us-backed. Trump’s comments only seemed to further fuel the bipartisan reaction on Capitol hill to his decision to withdraw.

“What the President said today is just outrageously dangerous,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-SC “it undermines Pence and Pompeo. And I do not agree with his construction that Turkey’s invasion of Syria is not a concern.”

In a letter to his counterpart, trump warned Erdogan “not to be a tough guy” before Ankara launched a deadly invasion of Northern Syria.

The October 9 letter was confirmed by a senior administration official. “Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for killing thousands of people and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy – and I will,” trump wrote.