 Macron: I never said US and France would stay in Syria for long term 
 
 Emmanuel Macron has clarified a suggestion that he was responsible for shifting the US position on Syria, after the White House rebutted an earlier comment by the French president that he had “convinced” Donald Trump to maintain a military presence there. Trump tweeted "Mission Accomplished" on Saturday after U.S., French and British warplanes and ships launched more than 100 missiles nearly unopposed by Syrian air defenses. After Macron said in a live TV interview on Sunday night that he had changed Trump’s mind on rapidly withdrawing US troops, the White House issued a statement saying the US view had not changed and Trump still wanted US forces to leave “as quickly as possible” and “completely crush Isis”. Haley said the three U.S. goals for accomplishing its mission are making sure chemical weapons are not used in a way that could harm U.S. national interests, defeating the Islamic State group and having a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing. Jean-Luc Melenchon of the hard-left La France Insoumise condemned the strikes, as did the centre-right Les Républicains, whose leader, Laurent Wauquiez, said he “did not believe in punitive strikes”. Speaking in a live TV interview, during which he was grilled on several subjects, Mr Macron said: "Ten days ago, President Trump was saying 'the United States should withdraw from Syria'. Macron said on Monday he had “never said” that either the US or France would stay engaged militarily over the long term. This weekend’s strikes on Syria – in which the US, France and Britain launched 105 missiles targeting three chemical weapons facilities in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack in Douma on 7 April – marked a new phase in Macron’s presidency. Mr Macron said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin directly that Russia - which backs the Syrian government militarily - was complicit. "They have not used chlorine themselves but they have methodically built the international community's inability to act through diplomatic channels to stop the use of chemical weapons," he said. "We're not going to leave until we know we've accomplished those things," she said. The wave of strikes had represented the most significant attack against President Bashar al-Assad's government by Western powers in seven years of Syria's civil war. Western allies believe the claimed attack killed dozens of people with the use of chlorine gas and possibly Sarin. Ambassador Nikki Haley has indicated new economic sanctions will be announced Monday against Russia for enabling the government of Syrian leader Bashar Assad to continue using chemical weapons. Asked about Trump's "Mission Accomplished" assertion, White said it pointed to the successful targeting of the three Syrian chemical weapons sites. The military said there were three targets: the Barzah chemical weapons research and development site in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage facility near Homs and a chemical weapons "bunker" a few miles from the second target.
– President Trump is taking guidance on Syria policy from the president of France, Emmanuel Macron claimed in an interview Sunday. The French leader said he persuaded Trump to limit airstrikes on Syria on Friday to chemical weapons facilities after "things got a little carried away over tweets," the Guardian reports. France and Britain also took part in the airstrikes. Macron also told an interviewer that over several phone calls in the days before the strikes, he talked Trump into keeping American troops in Syria just 10 days after the president said he wanted to bring them home. "We convinced him it was necessary to stay," said Macron. "We convinced him it was necessary to stay for the long term." Macron is believed to have a strong relationship with Trump and will be the guest of honor at the first formal White House state visit of Trump's presidency later this month, the BBC reports. But after his comments, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denied that there had been a change in American policy. "The US mission has not changed—the president has been clear that he wants US forces to come home as quickly as possible," she said. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Sunday that American troops are in Syria to crush ISIS, make sure Iran doesn't take over, and to prevent chemical weapons from being used in a way that harms US interests, and they will stay until those missions are accomplished, the AP reports. (She also announced new sanctions on Russia.)