Trump says al-Qaeda received US weapons intended for Syrian rebels
In a July 25 interview made public Tuesday, the president said he canceled a CIA program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels after weapons ended up in the hands of Al-Qaeda.
The White House decided to cancel a covert program to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels after weapons ended up in the hands of Al-Qaeda fighters, President Donald Trump said in an interview transcript released today.
The CIA program was begun by intelligence officials during the Barack Obama administration in an effort to push Bashar al-Assad to the negotiating table. The Washington Post first reported its termination last month.
But Trump disputed the accounts of US officials quoted by The Washington Post who said he decided to cancel the program ahead of a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July. Rather, Trump said the decision was made by “people, not me.”
“That was not something that I was involved in, other than they did come and they suggested,” Trump told Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker in a July 25 interview whose transcript was released by Politico today. “It turns out it’s ... a lot of Al-Qaeda we’re giving these weapons to.”
