'We Have Defeated ISIS in Syria': Trump Planning to Pull US Troops

American troops are leaving Syria after a surprise announcement from the White House Wednesday. 

President Donald Trump believes US troops do not need to stay in Syria any longer. He tweeted, "We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump presidency."

We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018

His statement appeared to catch much of official Washington by surprise, leading one of his most ardent supporters, Sen. Lindsey Graham, to call it an "Obama-like mistake." 

Withdrawal of this small American force in Syria would be a huge Obama-like mistake. https://t.co/028NOsbyzT

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 19, 2018

President @realDonaldTrump is right to want to contain Iranian expansion.

However, withdrawal of our forces in Syria mightily undercuts that effort and put our allies, the Kurds at risk.

— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 19, 2018

It is, however, a campaign promise that the president has continued to talk about.

"We'll be coming out of Syria like very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. Very soon," Trump said. 

But Chief Department of Defense spokesperson Dana W. White cautioned that the fight is not over.

"The Coalition has liberated the ISIS-held territory, but the campaign against ISIS is not over. We have started the process of returning US troops home from Syria as we transition to the next phase of the campaign," White said. "We will continue working with our partners and allies to defeat ISIS wherever it operates."

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders echoed that statement saying, "Five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, and now the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate."

"These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign. We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign. The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders," Sanders said.

Roughly 2,000 service members are believed to have been operating in Syria. The US got involved in that war-torn country back in 2014, launching airstrikes there. 

Since then, US troops started partnering with Syrian ground forces to fight ISIS terrorists.

The Pentagon recently said ISIS now only controls just one percent of the territory it originally held during the Syrian civil war.