French President Macron: Convinced U.S. President Trump To Keep Troops In Syria For The Long Term

Reuters: France's Macron says he persuaded Trump to keep troops in Syria

PARIS, April 15 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said he had convinced U.S. President Donald Trump to keep troops in Syria for the long term and limit joint strikes to chemical weapons facilities.

Early on Saturday, the United States, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting what they said were three chemical weapons facilities in Syria in retaliation for a suspected poison gas attack in Douma on April 7.

"Ten days ago, President Trump was saying 'the United States should withdraw from Syria'. We convinced him it was necessary to stay," Macron said in an interview broadcast by BFM TV, RMC radio and Mediapart online news.

"We convinced him it was necessary to stay for the long term."

The United States, Britain and France said they only hit Syria's chemical weapons capabilities and the strikes were not aimed at toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or intervening in the civil war.

Limiting the strikes to these specific targets was not necessarily Trump's initial plan, Macron said.

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WNU Editor: The White House is pushing back on French President Macron's remarks .... White House: Trump wants U.S. forces in Syria to come home as quickly as possible (Reuters).

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France's Macron says persuaded Trump to maintain troops in Syria -- Euronews