A military analyst for Fox News made two visits to the White House to try and change President Trump’s mind about withdrawing troops from Syria.
Retired Gen. Jack Keane showed Trump a map of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq during a visit on Oct. 8 indicating the locations of oil fields in Syria under control of the United States and its Kurdish allies, according to NBC News.
Keane argued that the oil would come under Iranian control if Trump pulled all U.S. troops from Syria.
On Oct. 14, he made the argument again to the president, this time with Sen. Lindsey Graham in attendance. Keane had a map showing that almost three-quarters of Syria’s oil fields are in parts of the country where U.S. troops are stationed. Graham and Keane both told Trump that Iran would move toward the oil fields and try to take control of the air space above them once the U.S. withdrew.
Trump appeared “resigned” to leaving a small number of troops in northern Syria after the presentations, according to a person who was present.
The report offers an explanation for why Trump has said the U.S. needed to “secure the oil” in Syria after he abruptly announced the withdrawal of U.S. troops earlier this month.
“I always said if you’re going in, keep the oil,” Trump said at a Cabinet meeting Monday. “We’ll work something out with the Kurds so that they have some money, so that they have some cash flow. Maybe we’ll get one of our big oil companies to go in and do it properly.”
Current and former officials said the map tactic has been used often to convince Trump to reverse course on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, and the Korean Peninsula.
[Read more: ‘An amazing outcome’: Trump lauds US announcement of cease-fire between Turkey and Kurdish forces]
