President Donald Trump’s decision to yank American troops from northern Syria was a “catastrophically bad idea” that’s hurting U.S. national security and boosting Russia in the Mideast, former White House chief of staff John Kelly said Saturday.
At a political conference hosted by the Washington Examiner in Sea Island, Ga., the retired four-star Marine general said he told Trump the alliance with Kurdish fighters was key in defeating ISIS with minimal U.S. casualties — and that a pullout could backfire.
“I want to get out of the endless wars, too,” Kelly said, the Examiner reported.
“The problem is, the other side, even if we wanted to surrender, will not take our surrender. They hate us because of who we are, the way we live our lives, the way we worship our God.”
“What was working in Syria was that for very little investment, the Kurds were doing all the fighting, the vast majority of the dying, and we were providing intelligence and fire support assistance. And we were winning,” Kelly added.
Kelly said he believes Trump made the decision well after Kelly’s White House departure.
“It didn’t happen while I was there — and a couple of other people recently left the administration and then he went with his instinct,” Kelly said, the Examiner reported.
“But it was, on a number of levels, the wrong thing to do and it has opened the way for the Russians to be very, very influential in the Middle East.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.