Syrian troop withdraw will take four months: report

President Trump will give the military about four months to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria after he initially ordered the troops to be withdrawn within 30 days, The New York Times reported Monday.

Trump during his trip to Iraq last week told Lt. Gen. Paul J. LaCamera, the commander of U.S. forces in Syria, that the military will have several months to carry out the withdrawal, according to the Times. 

{mosads}Trump said Monday on Twitter that the withdrawal from Syria would be done “slowly,” though he also objected to the public backlash that his decision to remove those troops provoked. 

“If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants,” he tweeted.

“I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!” he added in a second tweet.

If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants……

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

…I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 31, 2018

Trump earlier this month announced that he was ordering the withdrawal of the roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria. The decision prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis, who had reportedly attempted to dissuade Trump from following through with the order.

The decision also sparked intense bipartisan backlash from Congress, including from some of Trump’s most loyal allies, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

But Graham, who initially said the move was an “Obama-like mistake,” said Sunday that he felt better about Syria after meeting with Trump over lunch.

“We talked about Syria and he told me some things I didn’t know that made me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” Graham said.