In April, President Trump repeated his campaign promise to end U.S. military involvement in Syria. “I want to bring our troops back home.”In September, senior administration aides said at the time, the president was persuaded to change course. The multipronged new policy had been born after extensive criticism of the lack of a coherent administration strategy in Syria. A senior administration official, made available to brief reporters on the Syria decision Tuesday, mentioned only Turkey among U.S. allies that Trump had informed of the decision in advance. The administration official who spoke to reporters insisted that no one should be surprised at Trump’s decision because the president has been saying the same thing ever since the campaign.

Source: Washington Post December 20, 2018 01:07 UTC