Trump defends US troops withdrawal from Syria

President Donald Trump on Monday defended his decision to withdraw American troops from war-torn Syria and said that by doing so he's fulfilled one of his campaign promises.

Trump in a tweet said that during the 2016 presidential elections, he had campaigned to get out of Syria and other places.

"I campaigned on getting out of Syria and other places. Now when I start getting out the Fake News Media, or some failed Generals who were unable to do the job before I arrived, like to complain about me & my tactics, which are working. Just doing what I said I was going to do!" Trump said.

His decision to withdraw troops from Syria has been widely condemned by US lawmakers and the influential think-tank community.

Defence Secretary James Mattis resigned in protest.

The US has some 2,000 troops in Syria, which will gradually return from this war-ravaged country.

Trump said that there is no need for US troops in Syria after the defeat of the Islamic State.

The left over ISIS would be taken care of by neighbouring countries, Turkey in particular, he said in a recent tweet.

Saudi Arabia has agreed to invest heavily in the development of Syria.

"If anybody but Donald Trump did what I did in Syria, which was an ISIS loaded mess when I became President, they would be a national hero. ISIS is mostly gone, we're slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants," Trump tweeted Monday.