‘Peace In The Middle East’: Trump Defends Having Troops In Syria After Deadly Attack

President Donald Trump defended the U.S. military presence in Syria following a Saturday ambush that killed two American servicemen, saying the troops are necessary to achieve peace in the Middle East.

“Why do we have troops in Syria?” Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked Trump in the Oval Office on Monday.

“We’re trying to make sure that there’s going to be and remain peace in the Middle East,” Trump said. “And Syria is a big part of it.”

Trump emphasized the role that Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, could play in achieving that goal, calling him a “strong person” and noting the Middle East is a “rough part of the world.” (RELATED: ‘There Will Be Very Serious Retaliation’: Two American Servicemen, Interpreter Killed In Syrian Attack)

“It’s been amazing what’s taken place in Syria,” Trump said, noting the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad and what he described as “really bad people” who had been standing in the way of Middle East peace.

“We have legitimate peace in the Middle East, for the first time in 3,000 years,” the president said, though he added he would have to wait to see if terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah will keep the peace long term.

Trump credited the U.S. military presence in the region with enabling recent diplomatic breakthroughs. He pointed to a model B-2 bomber on his desk, citing successful strikes on Iranian nuclear sites as an example of American strength that made peace possible.

“If we didn’t knock out their nuclear capability, we would have never had peace in the Middle East, because you would have had a dark cloud hanging over Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and the other countries,” Trump said.

The Saturday attack killed two U.S. Army Guardsmen — Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar and Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard — along with a civilian interpreter, and injured three additional Guardsmen, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.