Under a Joe Biden presidency, the United States would retain a military presence in northeast Syria as leverage against the regime, the presumptive Democratic nominee’s top foreign policy adviser suggests. 

In an interview Tuesday with CBS, Tony Blinken indicated that the hundreds of US troops stationed in northeast Syria to advise partner forces fighting the Islamic State and secure the region’s oil fields would remain there if Biden were elected.  

“They shouldn't be there for the oil," which he indicated is "as President Trump would have it." He added, "But they happen to be there adjacent to it. That's a point of leverage because the Syrian government would love to have dominion over those resources. We should not give that up for free.” 

The Donald Trump administration’s policy on Syria has prioritized preventing an Islamic State resurgence, blunting Iranian influence and pushing for a durable political settlement to end the war. On the latter, Blinken accused the current administration of ceding too much influence to Russia and Iran, which back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which supports the opposition seeking to oust him.