As criticism mounts over President Donald Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops from Syria, he launched a series of tweets early Thursday defending his decision and said getting out of the country is "no surprise."
"I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there (SIC) work. Time to come home & rebuild. #MAGA," Trump said during his morning messages.
He further asked if the United States wishes to be the "policeman of the Middle East" while spending "precious lives and trillions of dollars" protecting people who do not appreciate what is being done.
He also claimed that "Russia, Iran, Syria & many others are not happy about the U.S. leaving, despite what the Fake News says, because now they will have to fight ISIS and others, who they hate, without us. I am building by far the most powerful military in the world. ISIS hits us they are doomed!"
Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, said during his annual press conference Thursday that "on this, Donald is right. I agree with him," reports The Washington Post.
Trump had initially announced the decision through Twitter Wednesday afternoon, and at around midnight, he was tweeting about other supporters of his decision, thanking Fox News' Laura Ingraham for saying that he he gets "no credit for what he's done in the Middle East."
He also noted that GOP Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee agreed with his decision, and tweeted that Col. Jim Carafano, appearing on Ingraham's program Wednesday, had said that before Trump, "ISIS was running amuck in the Middle East."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.