RICHFIELD, OH (WHDH) — President Donald Tump said Thursday the United States will withdraw from Syria very soon.
His message came just hours after the Pentagon highlighted the need for US troops to remain there for the immediate future.
It also stood in contrast to the military’s citation of several challenges in Syria that would not make now the time to withdraw troops.
“We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS. We’ll be coming out of Syria like very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon. Very soon, we’re coming out,” Trump said. “We’re going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it, sometimes referred to as land – we’re taking it all back quickly, quickly. But we’re going to be coming out there real soon. We’re going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”
A state department spokesperson said she hadn’t seen Trump’s comments and was not aware of any plans for the US to pull out of Syria.
One US defense official directly familiar with the ISIS campaign also said it’s unclear what the comments mean.
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