Trump signals withdrawal of US troops from Syria 'very soon'
What's the story
US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the US troops would "be coming out of Syria very soon" as he lamented that America has wasted $7 trillion in wars in the Middle East.
"We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria like very soon. Let the other people take care of it now," Trump said.
Our home
We are going back to the country we belong: Trump
"We are going to have 100% of the caliphate, as they call it, sometimes referred to as land... But we are going to be coming out of there really soon," Trump said in Ohio during a speech on infrastructure spending.
"We are going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be," he added.
Waste of money
US wasted $7 trillion in the Middle East: President
"We spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. We'd build a school, they'd blow it up. We'd build it again, they'd blow it up. We'd build it again, hasn't been blown up yet, but it will be," Trump said.
But if we want schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa or anywhere else in the US, we can't get federal money, Trump noted.
Little money
US has little money for infrastructure: Trump
"Remember I used to say 'keep the oil' as a civilian. We never kept the oil. If we kept the oil, we would have been okay. If we kept the oil, we wouldn't have ISIS," Trump said.
As a result, Trump noted, US has little money for its infrastructure.
He claimed ISIS kept a lot of the oil and that's how they funded themselves.
Infrastructure
US plans to deliver 'biggest and boldest' infrastructure plan
"I've asked Republicans and Democrats in Congress to come together and deliver the biggest and boldest infrastructure plan in the last half century," the US President said.
"I don't think you're going to get Democrat support very much," he said, "and you'll probably have to wait until next election, (but) it isn't so long down the road."
Defeat ISIS
Important work remains to guarantee defeat of ISIS: Defense Department
President Donald Trump's remarks on pulling out of Syria were made just hours after Defense Department Spokesperson Dana White said that "important work remains to guarantee the lasting defeat of these violent extremists" in the country.
"Our commitment to win must outlast the so-called physical caliphate, and the warped ideas that guide the calculated cruelty of ISIS," she said.
Priority
'Main focus is to eliminate ISIS from the region'
This is a group that plots and launches terror attacks globally, White said.
"As long as they exist and bring death and destruction around the world, we will continue to degrade, destroy and ultimately defeat ISIS," she said.
We cannot allow our focus to deviate from the most important task of eliminating ISIS from the region, White said.
Fragile ISIS
'ISIS groups have become more fragile now'
"The ISIS terrorist network is more fragile than it was one year ago. ISIS is taking full advantage of any opportunity to regain momentum. We must not relent on ISIS or permit these terrorists to recover from their battlefield loses," White said.
She said the US will continue to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight to defeat the extremists group ISIS.
Problems
Russia is escalating the problems in Syria: US
US alleged Russia was not doing anything to help in Syria.
"Russia is the huge part of the problem for the tens of thousands of innocent civilians who have been killed and are still being killed each and every day," US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said.
Russia is directly responsible for propping up Bashar-al-Assad, who has been killing his own people, she said.