President Donald Trump insisted Friday that his decision to leave about 200 troops in Syria did not mark a reversal on his promise to withdraw all US forces from the war-torn country.
"I am not reversing course," Trump said at the White House.
"It's a very small tiny fraction" of the people we had in Syria, he added, referring to the more than 2,000 US troops currently deployed there.
"DECREASING TROOPS IN S. KOREA NOT ON TABLE FOR N. KOREA TALKS"
Trump also said that drawing down troops in South Korea is not on the table in his upcoming talks with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.
Trump brought up the possible point of contention for his summit with Kim in Vietnam at the end of the month while speaking at a White House event on ongoing trade negotiations with China.
TRUMP EXPECTS TO MEET CHINA'S XI SOON ON TRADE
The U.S. president said on that if he sees progress being made in trade talks with China, he may be inclined to extend negotiations beyond a March 1 deadline, and suggested it was likely the globe's two largest economies would be able to make a deal.
Washington and Beijing are engaged in negotiations intended to ease trade tensions ahead of that deadline, at which point the United States had initially planned to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent.
But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that because of the progress being made, this week's round of negotiations had been extended. He added that if the two countries reached a deal, tariffs would not need to rise.
Trump said he expects to meet China's leader, Xi Jinping, soon, and the biggest trade decisions would be made between the two leaders, though he left open the possibility that he and Xi would not work out the final points.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the two countries had concluded a strong agreement on currency.
TRUMP COULD INCLUDE HUAWEI AND ZTE IN TRADE DEAL
Trump said he may or may not include Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE Corp in the trade deal currently being negotiated between the United States and China.
The Justice Department has charged Huawei and its chief financial officer with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by doing business through a subsidiary it tried to hide. The U.S. is now seeking her extradition.
