President Trump said he had another phone call Sunday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss a “a slow and highly coordinated” withdrawal of American troops from Syria, new details about the highly-controversial move about the American-led fight against ISIS. The move has been met with Republican pushback and departures by those leading the effort. In a tweet, the president announced, “I just had a long and productive call with President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home.” He said the two also “discussed heavily expanded Trade.” Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirms to The Daily Beast that the president was referring to a new call that happened on Sunday. White House officials did not immediately elaborate following inquiries from The Daily Beast. It was a previous phone call between the U.S. and Turkish presidents that reportedly spurred Trump to hastily order a U.S. pullout from Syria. The order was one of the final straws that caused this past week’s resignation of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, with whom Trump has disagreed on major policy issues including the Iran nuclear deal, and troops in several countries abroad.
I just had a long and productive call with President @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. We discussed ISIS, our mutual involvement in Syria, & the slow & highly coordinated pullout of U.S. troops from the area. After many years they are coming home. We also discussed heavily expanded Trade.
