USA: 'We never agreed to protect the Kurds' – Trump

*BUG AT SOURCE*
M/S President of the United States Donald Trump at Cabinet meeting, Washington DC
SOT, Donald Trump, President of the United States: "Well, we don't think it's going to be necessary. I don't want to leave troops there. It's very dangerous there. You know, we had 28 troops, as it turned out. People said 50; it was 28. And you had an army on both sides of those troops. Those troops would've been wiped out. I don't think it's necessary other than that we secured the oil in a little different section, but we did secure the oil. And the other reason — region where we've been asked by Israel and Jordan to leave a small number of troops is a totally different section of Syria, near Jordan and close to Israel. And that's a totally different section. That's a totally different mindset. So we have a small group there, and we've secured the oil. Other than that, there's no reason for it, in our opinion. And, again, the Kurds are going to be watching. We're working with the Kurds. We have a good relationship with the Kurds. But we never agreed to, you know, protect the Kurds. We fought with them for three and a half to four years. We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives."
M/S Cabinet meeting *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Donald Trump, President of the United States: "They [Kurdish forces] were fighting ISIS. You know, they hated ISIS, so they were fighting ISIS. But we never agreed. Where's an agreement that said we have to stay in the Middle East for the rest of humanity, for the rest of civilization, to protect the Kurds? They never said that."
M/S Cabinet meeting *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Donald Trump, President of the United States: "The ceasefire is holding. The Kurds are moving out to safer areas beyond the "safe zone," as we call it. Having the safe zone is not a bad thing; it's a good thing. And plenty of Turks have been killed because of conflict on their border."
SCRIPT
President of the United States Donald Trump stated that the US "never agreed" to defend the Kurds, speaking during a Cabinet meeting in Washington DC on Monday.
"We have a good relationship with the Kurds. But we never agreed to, you know, protect the Kurds. We fought with them for three and a half to four years. We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives," the president said.
Trump also added that "it's not going to be necessary" to maintain the presence of US troops in Syria apart from a small delegation to secure oil reserves.
"They [Kurdish forces] were fighting ISIS. You know, they hated ISIS, so they were fighting ISIS. But we never agreed. Where's an agreement that said we have to stay in the Middle East for the rest of humanity, for the rest of civilization, to protect the Kurds? They never said that," he stressed again.
The US president said that the ceasefire between the Kurdish forces and the Turkish military is "holding" and that Kurds are travelling to "safer areas beyond the safe zone."
Turkey's military offensive, dubbed 'Operation Peace Spring,' began on October 9, days after the White House announced the withdrawal of US troops from the area. Ankara says the offensive aims to establish a 'safe zone' in northeastern Syria.