The U.S. Department of Defense is drafting plans to withdraw all American troops from Syria after President Donald Trump and his close associates expressed interest in a full military pullout. The Pentagon is now considering timelines for the withdrawal, ranging from 30, 60, or 90 days, according to two defense officials who spoke to NBC News on Tuesday.
The recent discussions come after Trump and his inner circle expressed a desire to pull U.S. forces from Syria. Trump’s new national security adviser, Mike Waltz, spent Friday at the U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, meeting with senior military leaders and receiving briefings on the Middle East, according to defense officials. However, a White House official emphasized that the potential troop reduction was not discussed during Waltz’s visit, which aimed to provide him with an overall understanding of the region.
“It’s good for NSA Waltz to visit CENTCOM to get a sense of the entire region,” the official said, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House on Tuesday and that Jordan’s King Abdullah is expected to visit next week.
When asked about a possible U.S. troop withdrawal from Syria, Trump responded in an Oval Office media event last Thursday, saying, “I don’t know who said that. I mean, I don’t know who said that, but we’ll make a determination on that. We’re not getting, we’re not involved in Syria. Syria is its own mess. They got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved in everyone.”
In 2019, Trump ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, which was met with strong opposition from then-Defense Secretary James Mattis, who resigned in protest. While most troops were initially withdrawn, some were later returned, and the U.S. military presence in Syria has remained.
In December, the Pentagon revealed that approximately 2,000 troops were deployed to Syria, a significant increase from the previous figure of about 900 troops. At that time, a Pentagon spokesperson clarified that 1,100 of those troops were considered “temporary rotational forces,” deployed for 30 to 90 days, while the remaining 900 were part of the “core” troop presence, stationed for closer to a year.
