https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6h24yw
Despite President Trump’s assertions that ISIS was defeated, the group has continued its attacks in Europe and the Middle East. While appearing at an infrastructure event in Ohio on Thursday, Trump randomly doubled down on the idea that ISIS was on the ropes while also saying that the U.S. would be able to pull its troops out of Syria in the near future:
“We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS. We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now. We’re going to have 100 percent of the caliphate … we’re taking it all back.”
Throughout his campaign, Trump declared he would never announce his plans (like a troop withdrawal) regarding ISIS publicly, because he didn’t want entities like ISIS to know the U.S.’ plans since they could then just wait out the clock.
Regardless, he appears to be sharing that information here. Trump also brought out one of his favorite topics of discussion — seizing natural resources from sovereign countries. Trump theorized that if the U.S. had seized Iraq’s oil, ISIS would not be in Syria.
“I used to say ‘keep the oil, keep the oil,’ but we never kept the oil. If we kept the oil, we would’ve been okay. If we kept the oil, we wouldn’t have ISIS!” he shouted. “Because you know who kept a lot of the oil? ISIS. That’s how they funded themselves … we didn’t keep the oil! Stupid! Stupid!” Watch below.
(Via WhiteHouse.gov)