Trump: Writing Letters to Parents of Fallen Soldiers is 'Hardest Thing I Have to Do'
President opens up about the difficult process following death of troops
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President Donald Trump opened up about writing letters to parents of slain soldiers in the Middle East on Monday, reminding Americans that troops are still dying in the country.
The president spoke about the difficult process after presiding over a signing event for new the U.S and Japan trade deal at the White House:
“I have to sign letters often to parents of young soldiers that were killed, and it’s the hardest thing I have to do in this job,” Trump said.
“I hate it. I hate it.”
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“We make each letter different, each person is different, and we make them personal but no matter what you do it’s devastating,” Trump said.
“The parents will never be the same, the families will never be the same.”
The president reminded critics that foreign policy campaigned on to bring the troops home.
“We’ve been there for many many many years, beyond of what we were supposed to be,” he said.
“Not fighting. Just there. Just there. It’s time to come back home.”
Trump added that the United States was “bogged down," and a lot of money was still being spent maintaining forces in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
“We’re willing to do what we have to do, but there has to be an end game,” he said.
“And if you stay it’s going to be the same thing, eventually you’re going to have to leave.”
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Trump said understood critics who believed withdrawing troops was a mistake.
But he said their arguments did not convince him.
“I respect both opinions, the problem with the other opinion is when do we leave?” he asked.
“Are we going to stay there forever?”
Earlier this year, following Trump's withdrawal of US troops from Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised his move to fulfill his election campaign promise.
Hosting Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani in Sochi, Putin, and the two leaders considered their joint effort to advance settlement in Syria, a goal they promise is coming closer with every month.
“President Trump is quite actively working on fulfilling his election campaign promises, which in practice rarely happens in the US political life. The withdrawal of the American troops from Syria was one of those promises,” Putin said.
