国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Trump says Saudi Arabia to help rebuild Syria, defends forcing Mattis out_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Trump says Saudi Arabia to help rebuild Syria, defends forcing Mattis out

The White House said on Wednesday that it has started returning U.S. troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the IS.

On Thursday, U.S. media reported that the Trump administration considers to cut half of the U.S. troops in Afghanistan down to some 7,000 servicemen.

Trump tweeted also on Thursday that Mattis will retire "with distinction" at the end of February, an announcement the Pentagon later confirmed by publishing its chief's resignation letter, implying entrenched divergences with Trump.

One day later, McGurk was confirmed to have resigned, in the latest sign of U.S. senior official's growing objection to Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

Enraged by frequent negative news coverage of his withdrawal decision and the two officials' announcements to leave, Trump said on Sunday that he has picked Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan as the acting Pentagon chief, forcing outgoing Mattis to step down two months earlier than planned.

The reshuffle at the Pentagon also came as the U.S. federal government has been partially shut down over a budget impasse, triggering an increasing sense of uncertainty in Washington over the U.S. foreign policy direction over the next year.

Trump, for his part, has never been a fan of sending U.S. troops out for battles overseas. Ever since his campaign, he has urged to bring "boys" back home, while senior national security officials, including Mattis, have advocated a longer-term military deployment to secure anti-terrorism victory and national security.