FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 17, 2025
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Recent reports indicate that the Trump administration is considering a reduction of U.S. forces stationed in Syria. Defense Priorities Fellow Daniel DePetris issued the following statement in response:
“Every rationale used to maintain a U.S. military presence in Syria is no longer relevant today. ISIS’s caliphate was destroyed during President Trump’s first term and now exists as a low-level insurgency fighting multiple adversaries, including the new Syrian government. With the Assad regime’s collapse, Iran’s influence in Syria is at a low point. Russia, one of Assad’s biggest foreign backers, struggles to retain some of its deteriorating military presence. And the Syrian Kurds are exploring the benefits of rapprochement with the new government in Damascus.
“The Trump administration’s consideration of a partial troop departure from Syria is a productive step, and the U.S. should go further and urgently withdraw all permanent military forces there. Withdrawal would not only finally end a mission that accomplished its goals years ago, but also facilitate a much-needed deprioritization of Syria and the Middle East. Local actors in the region—with a far greater stake in Syria—will be forced to take primary responsibility for the burden of an effective political transition there.
“Keeping U.S. forces in Syria will delay this process and increase the risk American servicemembers will become a target if the regional security environment deteriorates.”
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