Mick Mulvaney, the incoming acting White House chief of staff, said that President Trump is not going to change his mind about withdrawing troops from Syria, even after the administration suffered two high-profile resignations because of the decision.
“Is there any chance the president changes his mind about this and reverses course?” ABC’s Jon Karl asked Mulvaney in an interview Sunday on “This Week.”
“No, I think the president has told people from the very beginning that he doesn’t want us to stay in Syria forever. You’re seeing the end result now of two years worth of work,” he said.
Earlier this week, Trump announced he would be pulling all U.S. troops out of Syria, against the advice of his top advisers and experts in the region. The president claimed that the Islamic State was defeated, though many have cautioned that the militant group still faces a huge threat to stability in the area.
Then on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said he would retire at the end of February so that Trump could have a Cabinet member with views “better aligned” with his own.
On Saturday, Brett McGurk, the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat ISIS, also resigned because of Trump’s decision.
In an email to staff, McGurk said the president’s decision “came as a shock and was a complete reversal of policy that was articulated to us,” adding that he “could not carry out these new instructions and maintain my integrity.”
Trump blasted both Mattis and McGurk in Twitter posts late Saturday night.
“Brett McGurk, who I do not know, was appointed by President Obama in 2015. Was supposed to leave in February but he just resigned prior to leaving. Grandstander? The Fake News is making such a big deal about this nothing event!” Trump tweeted.
Then, Trump blasted Mattis for being fired as head of Central Command by former President Barack Obama in 2013.
“When President Obama ingloriously fired Jim Mattis, I gave him a second chance. Some thought I shouldn’t, I thought I should. Interesting relationship-but I also gave all of the resources that he never really had. Allies are very important-but not when they take advantage of U.S.,” Trump tweeted.
