Trump said the US deployed troops in Syria to protect oil fields and wanted to cede border patrols to Turkey.

"We want to bring soldiers home, but leave them behind because we want to hold oil. I like oil. We are guarding oil," US President Donald Trump told reporters outside. The White House on November 1 before heading to Tupelo, Mississippi, for the "Keep America Great" march.

The US sent some of the M2A2 Bradley armored troops and troops to eastern Syria on October 31 to protect the oil fields there. Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the US military would continue to withdraw from northern Syria and that the number of troops remaining in the country would be lower than 1,000.

"Others can patrol along the Syrian border. Turkey has fought for 1,000 years and let them take charge of the border area, we don't want to do that," Trump added.

Trump said the US was working effectively with two Turkish and Kurdish counterparts, and reiterated the campaign to kill the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He confirmed Baghdadi's commander was killed and that "the US had a third goal in sight".

The US withdrew its troops from northern Syria before Turkey launched a military operation on October 9 targeting ISIS forces and Kurdish militants there. Trump said he wanted to "pull out of endless wars", but later the US president changed his mind and suggested that it was necessary to seize oil fields in Syria and prevent IS from retaking them.

Gas-extraction facilities in eastern Syria were the subject of controversy as the United States threatened to attack all forces approaching them, including the Russian and Syrian militaries. Defense Minister Esper said oil revenues would be provided to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to maintain their strength and manage IS prisoners.

The Russian Defense Ministry released a statement on October 26 alleging that "the US seized and controlled oil fields in eastern Syria by force" and called it "state-level robbery". Russia said US soldiers and mercenaries defended the Syrian oil exploitation and smuggling operation to collect more than $ 30 million a month, then paid it to private security companies and US intelligence agencies.

Most of Syria's oil and gas fields are concentrated in the northeastern region of the country with an output of 385,000 bpd before the civil war began in 2011. Experts assess the economic value of oilfields in Syria bring America not high but may be a valuable bargaining card of Washington with Moscow and Damascus.