Trump, Erdogan Discuss Syrian Troop Withdraw
Call between leaders centered on ISIS, the troop pullout and trade expansion, President says on Twitter
WASHINGTON—President Trump on Sunday said he discussed withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and made clear he is sticking by the decision despite criticism from lawmakers and military leaders.
Mr. Trump said on Twitter it was a “long and productive call” and they 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.” The call took place early Sunday.
Mr. Erdogan has steadfastly opposed the U.S. partnership with Kurdish forces in Syria and has threatened to launch an attack on the Kurds. Mr. Trump’s decision to withdraw troops came up in a phone call he had with the Turkish president on Dec. 14.
The abrupt decision was met with rebukes from lawmakers in both parties and triggered the resignation of Defense Secretary Jim Mattisand the top envoy in the war against Islamic State extremist group, Brett McGurk. Mr. Trump has defended the decision, arguing that ISIS had been “largely defeated” and the fight had gone on far too long.
Criticism continued Sunday.
“I am deeply, deeply concerned and I oppose strongly the president’s decision apparently to withdraw troops from Syria,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.) said on CBS, mentioning also plans to remove about half the troops in Afghanistan.
“I think this president has done a lot of very good things in terms of beginning to rebuild our military, getting out of the Iranian nuclear agreement. But these two decisions would be disastrous,” Ms. Cheney said. “They would really, in many ways, hand the victories to our enemies to Iran, to ISIS in Syria, the Taliban, al Qaeda in Afghanistan.”
Incoming White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney countered on Fox News that the president had long made his intentions clear. “We recognize the fact that this is unpopular within the beltway,” he said. “We recognize this fact it’s unpopular within the Defense Department. It’s very popular with ordinary American people.”
Write to Alex Leary at alex.leary@wsj.com