President Trump defended his decision to remove US troops from Syria, blasted “failed Generals” for criticizing him and claimed that if anybody other than he took the same action, they would be lauded as a “national hero.”
“If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants,” Trump wrote Monday in a series of three tweets about his decision to pull out of the war-torn country.
Trump, who campaigned on either withdrawing completely or sharply reducing involvement in foreign wars, hit back at critics of his Syria decision.
“I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!,” he wrote.
“Except the results are FAR BETTER than I ever said they were going to be! I campaigned against the NEVER ENDING WARS, remember!,” he concluded in the third tweet.
It was in another tweet on Dec. 19 that Trump announced his intention to withdraw the US troops.
“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” he wrote, explaining his reason for withdrawing the 2,000 US troops.
The next day, Defense Secretary James Mattis announced he would be leaving the administration, submitting a resignation letter that also served as a stinging rebuke to the president’s foreign policy, including his treatment of longtime allies.
“Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position,” Mattis wrote.
The retired general was among a number of military officials and lawmakers opposed to the withdrawal.
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, who spoke out against the troop pullout, said Trump agreed to reconsider his decision during lunch at the White House on Sunday.
“He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise,” Graham told reporters after the meeting. “We’re not there yet. But as I said today, we’re inside the 10-yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job.”