International

A senior US official has revealed the US decision to withdraw from Syria was made following a Trump-Erdogan phone call last Friday, despite Trump administration denials.

Fox News, quoting a senior Pentagon official on Thursday, reported that Mr Trump’s withdrawal decision was made “last Friday after speaking with Turkish President Erdogan.” In that call, the Turkish leader told Mr Trump that Turkish forces were planning an incursion into Syria to go after the Kurdish militants and warned US troops in those areas “to get out of the way.” The Pentagon has called any threat of a Turkish incursion “unacceptable.”

Two British and Turkish sources familiar with the deliberations in the White House confirmed to The National that Mr Trump made his decision based on his phone call with Mr Erdogan.

However, publicly, the Trump administration is refuting this narrative. On Wednesday and in a phone call with reporters, a senior US official insisted that the US President “made his own decision”.