President Donald Trump is preparing to pull around 1,000 U.S. troops out of Syria, concluding a decade-long mission as Middle East tensions rise.
American officials familiar with the plan told The Wall Street Journal that U.S. forces are expected to leave the regions within two months.
The withdrawal would complete a full exit after the military vacated several key positions earlier this year.
The move would formally end Operation Inherent Resolve, the campaign launched in 2014 to dismantle ISIS.
American troops stayed in Syria even after ISIS lost its territorial hold in 2019, supporting partner forces, deterring a resurgence and countering Iran-backed militias across the region.
U.S. forces already withdrew from al-Tanf Garrison, an outpost near the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
U.S. Central Command had announced that posture adjustment earlier this year while stating American forces would remain ready to strike ISIS targets and maintain stability.
Officials told the Journal that the broader withdrawal is not tied to the current buildup of U.S. naval and air assets in the Middle East.
The administration determined that a continued footprint in Syria is no longer necessary after shifts in control on the ground, including the integration of Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian army following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently met with Syria’s foreign minister to discuss counterterrorism coordination and maintaining a fragile cease-fire.
The diplomatic outreach comes as Washington recalibrates its regional posture under Trump.
The troop withdrawal unfolds as U.S.-Iran tensions escalate over Tehran’s nuclear program.
America’s most advanced spy drones have begun gathering intelligence high over the Persian Gulf amid speculation that a major strike could be nearing.
A remote-controlled Triton drone lifted off from Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday.
The aircraft spent time over the Persian Gulf before heading toward Saudi Arabia and Iraq, both neighbors of Iran.
Two U.S. Navy carrier strike groups are set to be stationed in the region after negotiations with Tehran collapsed over Trump’s nuclear red line.
The U.S. armada now includes two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, a dozen warships and hundreds of fighter jets equipped with advanced combat systems.
Iran has responded with warnings and military drills. Tehran shut down the Strait of Hormuz for exercises widely viewed as a signal to Washington.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a stark message this week.
“The Americans constantly say that they’ve sent a warship toward Iran,” Khamenei posted on social media. “Of course, a warship is a dangerous piece of military hardware.”
“However, more dangerous than that warship is the weapon that can send that warship to the bottom of the sea,” he added.
The threat followed a second round of nuclear discussions between U.S. and Iranian officials in Geneva.
The Trump administration is pressing for a new agreement after the first Trump administration withdrew from the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
On Friday, the Pentagon deployed the USS Gerald R Ford, a $13 billion aircraft carrier, to join the USS Abraham Lincoln battle group in the Middle East.
The deployment effectively doubled U.S. carrier strike power in the region. Trump signaled that Tehran faces a choice.
“Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” the president told Axios, referencing the U.S. bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites this past June.
“Last time they didn’t believe I would do it. They overplayed their hand.”
Trump has described the nuclear issue as central to any negotiation and insisted any agreement must address Iran’s ballistic missile stockpiles.
He said the U.S. “can make a great deal with Iran,” adding that Tehran “very much wants to make a deal.”
Some Republican lawmakers have dismissed Iranian threats outright. Sen. Lindsey Graham responded to Khamenei with a line from the 1969 western “True Grit.”
“‘Bold talk for a one-eyed fat man,’” Graham posted, before adding, “See you at the movies. Oh I forgot, you don’t have movies.”
“Bold talk for a one-eyed fat man.”
See you at the movies.
Oh I forgot, you don’t have movies. https://t.co/meVcucZf8K
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) February 18, 2026
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo argued that Tehran is not negotiating in good faith.
“The Iranians have no interest in cutting a deal. They are trying to drag this thing out. Any deal that they’d actually be prepared to sign isn’t going to be satisfactory,” Pompeo said during a radio appearance on the “Cats & Cosby Show” on WABC 770 AM.
“President Trump is not going to do what President Obama did: sign a weak agreement that allows the Iranians to continue to build their nuclear program out,” he added.
“That’s what [Iran has] offered so far with no ability to verify what they are actually doing,” he told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby.
Pompeo said the administration’s diplomacy ensures that “we tried to see diplomacy all the way through.”
He warned that the regime would require more pressure and action from the United States and its regional partners.
“President Trump made it pretty clear. He said … ‘Help is on the way.’ I’ve always known President Trump to deliver against commitments that he makes like that,” Pompeo said, referring to Iranian protesters.
“I am very hopeful that we will give the Iranian people the chance … to overthrow this regime. They want to live their lives, raise their families. They don’t want to live under a thugocracy.”
Not all Republicans are aligned on the path forward. Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene pushed back against the prospect of war.
“Americans do not want to go to war with Iran!!!” Greene wrote on X.
Americans do not want to go to war with Iran!!!
They want to be able to afford their lives and get ahead.
They want to be happy and enjoy life.
They want their government to put elite pedos in jail.
And they voted for NO MORE FOREIGN WARS AND NO MORE REGIME CHANGE. https://t.co/0lTRXJVXBo
— Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@FmrRepMTG) February 18, 2026
“They want to be able to afford their lives and get ahead. They want to be happy and enjoy life. They want their government to put elite pedos in jail. And they voted for NO MORE FOREIGN WARS AND NO MORE REGIME CHANGE,” she added.
The White House dismissed Greene’s criticism.
“President Trump’s strong and decisive leadership has already ended eight wars and saved countless lives, and he will continue to make America and the world a safer place. Marjorie Taylor Greene is a former congresswoman, traitor, and a quitter,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital.
