MILITARY/SYRIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump has agreed to keep U.S. troops in Syria, U.S. officials said on Wednesday [4-4-18], but only until the defeat of the Islamic State extremist group, a task he expects to be completed in a matter of months. Mr. Trump’s decision, at a White House meeting, was a recognition of military commanders’ argument that they needed more time. But Mr. Trump made it clear that he expected the rest of the operation to go quickly, officials said, and sharply narrowed the scope of the U.S. involvement from the administration strategy spelled out earlier this year… The decision made clear that the U.S. no longer will lead stabilization and recovery efforts in formerly Islamic State-controlled areas in Syria, U.S. officials said.”
-Felicia Schwartz, Nancy A. Youssef and Michael R. Gordon, “Trump Tells Military Commanders to Finish ISIS Fight in Syria Quickly,” The Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2018 6:48 pm