Trump slows Syria troop pullout plan

US President Donald Trump appeared to backtrack Monday (Dec. 31) on shock plans for an immediate pullout of US troops from Syria, but said his drive to end American involvement in wars made him a "hero," AFP reported.

The shift came a day after a senior Republican senator said Trump had promised to stay in Syria to finish the job of defeating ISIS.

Trump had earlier stunned allies -- and prompted the resignation of his respected defense secretary, Jim Mattis -- by abruptly announcing that the jihadists were defeated and that US troops in Syria were ready to leave.

However, in a tweet early Monday, Trump seemed to signal a more cautious schedule for pulling out the troops, which provide crucial support to Kurdish militias.

"We're slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants," Trump wrote.

In contrast to previously emphatic victory declarations, Trump said that "ISIS is mostly gone."

But reflecting his frustration at the outpouring of criticism over his Syria strategy, Trump lashed out at opponents and the media, saying that he should be given more credit.

"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," Trump tweeted.

In response to the uproar, Trump national security advisor John Bolton will soon visit allies Turkey and Israel, which each have their own complex goals in Syria's multi-dimensional war.