President Donald Trump justified his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria, noting Monday that Turkey and Saudi Arabia would instead bear the brunt of the remaining anti-Islamic State effort.
Saudi Arabia has now agreed to spend the necessary money needed to help rebuild Syria, instead of the United States. See? Isn’t it nice when immensely wealthy countries help rebuild their neighbors rather than a Great Country, the U.S., that is 5000 miles away. Thanks to Saudi A!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey has very strongly informed me that he will eradicate whatever is left of ISIS in Syria….and he is a man who can do it plus, Turkey is right “next door.” Our troops are coming home!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
Trump noted Sunday that he had a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about the situation in Syria and his pledges to support anti-ISIS efforts.
I just had a long and productive call with President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home. We also discussed heavily expanded Trade.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2018
Trump has received pointed criticism from several congressional Republicans and others for his Syria decision who warn that ISIS is not yet wholly defeated in Syria and that a withdrawal will abandon allies on the ground.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan gesture as they talk at the start of the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium July 11, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo –
U.S. strategy to defeat ISIS relied primarily on training, equipping, and supporting Syrian Kurdish forces on the ground. Turkey, however, is vehemently opposed to U.S. support for Syrian Kurdish forces and considers them a terrorist group intent on challenging the legitimacy of the Turkish state.
Trump has repeatedly said in recent days that the U.S. has no other role in Syria than to destroy ISIS and now that the vast majority of its caliphate is gone the nearly 2,000 troops on the ground are no longer necessary.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. March 20, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
The decision has roiled the national security establishment and prompted the resignation of Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Brett McGurk, the U.S. special envoy to the anti-ISIS fight. McGurk’s resignation in particular has piqued Trump, who noted on Twitter that he was not familiar with him and his past association with the Obama administration. (RELATED: Here’s How Mattis Will Implement Trump’s Transgender Troop Ban For Now)
McGurk and Mattis both left their positions because they disagreed strongly with Trump’s decision. Mattis also penned a letter of resignation for Trump disagreeing with much of his worldview.
For all of the sympathizers out there of Brett McGurk remember, he was the Obama appointee who was responsible for loading up airplanes with 1.8 Billion Dollars in CASH & sending it to Iran as part of the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal (now terminated) approved by Little Bob Corker.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018