October 07, 2019 5:45 PM ET President Donald Trump defended his decision to remove American forces from Syria during a press conference Monday, emotionally describing how he has to write letters to the families of fallen soldiers. “It’s time to come back home. But I can understand the other side of it, but if you go by the other side that means we should never, ever come home. We should never, ever come home and you know, I have to sign letters often to parents of young soldiers that were killed and it’s the hardest thing I have to do in this job,” Trump said. “I hate it. I hate it. Afghanistan, I signed one the other day. Iraq. Syria. They get blown up by mines. They get taken out by a sniper,” the president said, continuing, “And I have to write letters, and we make each letter different. Each person is different. We make them personal.” He continued, “But no matter what you do it’s devastating. The parents will never be the same. The families will never be the same. People are killed. Many people are still being killed. It’s going to go on for perhaps a long time. And, we’re willing to do what we have to do but there has to be an end game.” Indeed, Trump faced criticism from both the left and the right Monday following his decision to withdraw troops from Northern Syria and allow Turkey to expand into the region.
