{"id":55817,"date":"2018-03-30T20:26:49","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T20:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/30\/in-private-trump-has-mused-about-syria-pullout-for-weeks\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:29:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:29:22","slug":"in-private-trump-has-mused-about-syria-pullout-for-weeks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/30\/in-private-trump-has-mused-about-syria-pullout-for-weeks\/","title":{"rendered":"In private, Trump has mused about Syria pullout for weeks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 President Donald Trump\u2019s unscripted remark this week about pulling out of Syria \u201cvery soon,\u201d while at odds with his own policy, was not a one-off: For weeks, top advisers have been fretting about an overly hasty withdrawal as the president has increasingly told them privately he wants out, U.S. officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Only two months ago, Trump\u2019s aides thought they\u2019d persuaded him that the U.S. needed to keep its presence in Syria open-ended \u2014 not only because the Islamic State group has yet to be entirely defeated, but also because the resulting power vacuum could be filled by other extremist groups or by Iran. Trump signed off on major speech in January in which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson laid out the new strategy and declared \u201cit is vital for the United States to remain engaged in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/30\/two-coalition-personnel-killed-by-ied-in-syria\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170805-M-QM580-1155.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US troop confirmed among 2 killed, 5 injured in Syria IED attack<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Two members of Operation Inherent Resolve were killed and another five were wounded by an improvised explosive device in Syria Thursday.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But by mid-February, Trump was telling his top aides in meetings that as soon as victory can be declared against ISIS, he wanted American troops out of Syria, said the officials. Alarm bells went off at the State Department and the Pentagon, where officials have been planning for a gradual, methodical shift from a military-led operation to a diplomatic mission to start rebuilding basic infrastructure like roads and sewers in the war-wracked country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The officials weren\u2019t authorized to comment publicly and demanded anonymity.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/29\/us-officials-say-theyre-not-conducting-presence-patrols-in-manbij-syria-but-new-photos-show-otherwise\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"158\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1000w_q95.jpg_365c20.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">US officials say they\u2019re not conducting \u2018presence patrols\u2019 in Manbij, Syria, but new photos show otherwise<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Operation Inherent Resolve recently posted pictures of U.S. soldiers near Manbij, Syria, conducting what the captions called \u201cpresence patrols.\u201d But after Military Times reached out to U.S. officials, the photos were quickly removed.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s first public suggestion he was itching to pull out came in a news conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Alastair Campbell on Feb. 23, when Trump said the U.S. was in Syria to \u201cget rid of ISIS and go home.\u201d On Thursday, in a domestic policy speech in Ohio, Trump went further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon \u2014 very soon, we\u2019re coming out,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"901\" height=\"598\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capture2.JPG_971c37.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-63156\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capture2.JPG_971c37.jpg 901w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capture2.JPG_971c37.jpg?resize=300,199 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capture2.JPG_971c37.jpg?resize=768,510 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 901px) 100vw, 901px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Two Coalition members scan the horizon during a joint presence patrol conducted by Coalition and Syrian Democratic Forces in villages and control points near the city of Manbij, Syria, March 24, 2018. Regular presence patrols keep the area safe for local residents, de-escalate tensions amongst parties and prevent ISIS infiltration of the city. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy Koster, Combined Joint Task Force \u2013 Operation Inherent Resolve)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The public declaration caught U.S. national security agencies off-guard and unsure whether Trump was formally announcing a new, unexpected change in policy. Inundated by inquiries from journalists and foreign officials, the Pentagon and State Department reached out to the White House\u2019s National Security Council for clarification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House\u2019s ambiguous response, officials said: Trump\u2019s words speak for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe mission of the Department of Defense to defeat ISIS has not changed,\u201d said Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway, a Pentagon spokesman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, without a clear directive from the president, planning has not started for a withdrawal from Syria, officials said, and Trump has not advocated a specific timetable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Trump, who campaigned on an \u201cAmerica First\u201d mantra, Syria is just the latest foreign arena where his impulse has been to limit the U.S. role. Like with NATO and the United Nations, Trump has called for other governments to step up and share more of the burden so that Washington doesn\u2019t foot the bill. His administration has been crisscrossing the globe seeking financial commitments from other countries to fund reconstruction in both Syria and Iraq, but with only limited success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet it\u2019s unclear how Trump\u2019s impulse to pull out could be affected by recent staff shake-ups on his national security team. Tillerson and former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, both advocates for keeping a U.S. presence in Syria, were recently fired, creating questions about the longevity of the plan Tillerson announced in his Stanford University speech in January. But Trump also replaced McMaster with John Bolton, a vocal advocate for U.S. intervention and aggressive use of the military overseas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The abrupt change in the president\u2019s thinking has drawn concern both inside and outside the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Other nations that make up the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS fear that Trump\u2019s impulse to pull out hastily would allow the notoriously resourceful ISIS militants to regroup, several European diplomats said. That concern has been heightened by the fact that U.S.-backed ground operations against remaining ISIS militants in Syria were put on hold earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The ground operations had to be paused because Kurdish fighters who had been spearheading the campaign against ISIS shifted to a separate fight with Turkish forces, who began combat operations in the town of Afrin against Kurds who are considered by Ankara to be terrorists that threaten Turkey\u2019s security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a serious and growing concern,\u201d State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beyond just defeating ISIS, there are other strategic U.S. objectives that could be jeopardized by a hasty withdrawal, officials said, chiefly those related to Russia and Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel, America\u2019s closest Mideast ally, and other regional nations like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are deeply concerned about the influence of Iran and its allies, including the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, inside Syria. The U.S. military presence in Syria has been seen as a buffer against unchecked Iranian activity, and especially against Tehran\u2019s desire to establish a contiguous land route from Iran to the Mediterranean coast in Lebanon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An American withdrawal would also likely cede Syria to Russia, which along with Iran has been propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad\u2019s forces and would surely fill the void left behind by the U.S. That prospect has alarmed countries like France, which has historic ties to the Levant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In calling for a withdrawal \u201cvery soon,\u201d Trump may be overly optimistic in his assessment of how quickly the anti-ISIS campaign can be wrapped up, the officials said. Although the group has been driven from basically all of the territory it once controlled in Iraq and 95 percent of its former territory in Syria, the remaining five percent is becoming increasingly difficult to clear and could take many months, the officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writers Robert Burns and Jonathan Lemire contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Donald Trump\u2019s unscripted remark this week about pulling out of Syria \u201cvery soon,\u201d while at odds with his own policy, was not a one-off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":63152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[551,910],"class_list":["post-55817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-news"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"ND7VAX356BG65ICJHZM2ER7KYI","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2018\/03\/30\/in-private-trump-has-mused-about-syria-pullout-for-weeks\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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