(WASHINGTON ) — The Trump administration will soon withdraw all of the approximately 2,000 American troops from Syria, a U.S. official, said Wednesday as President Donald Trump declared victory in the mission to defeat Islamic State militants there.
Planning for the pullout has begun and troops will begin leaving as soon as possible, said the official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss military planning and spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday, as Vice President Mike Pence met with top military leaders in the Pentagon, Trump tweeted: “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.”
That declaration of victory is far from unanimous. The decision will fulfill Trump’s long-stated goal of bringing troops home from Syria, but military leaders have pushed back, arguing that the IS group remains a threat and could regroup as it battles in Syria’s long-running civil war.
Trump has argued for the withdrawal since he was a presid..