Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday he felt less concerned about President Trump pulling U.S. troops from Syria following a two-hour lunch with him at the White House.
“We had a great lunch. We talked about Syria and he told me some things that I didn’t know that make me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” Graham told reporters shortly after the meeting. “He promised to destroy ISIS. He’s going to keep that promise. We’re not there yet, but as I said today, we’re inside the 10-yard line and the president understands the need to finish the job.”
Graham is one of a plethora of lawmakers who opposed Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. military personnel from the war-torn country. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in part due to the announcement.
Graham, a former U.S. airman, said Sunday that Trump was taking the troop drawdown “seriously.”
“He’s worried about Iranian influence and the potential dangers to Israel from having a superhighway from Beirut to Tehran in terms of delivering weapons into Lebanon, and he’ll be talking to Turkey about making sure we don’t have a war between the Turks and our allies the Kurds,” Graham said. “So I like what I heard. We still have some differences, but I will tell you that the president is thinking long and hard about Syria.”
