'They were doing it for themselves' — Trump says YPG-led SDF received US money to fight in Syria

US President Donald Trump has expressed support for his Syrian counterpart Ahmed al Sharaa, who launched an offensive against Washington's erstwhile allies, adding the SDF militias, led by the YPG terror group, were paid to fight in Syria.

"He's working very hard, the president of Syria. He's working very, very hard. Strong guy, tough guy," Trump told journalists at the White House on Tuesday in a rare press conference.

"Pretty rough resume. But you're not gonna put a choir boy in there and get the job done," he added.

Asked about the YPG terror group-led SDF, who were used by the US in counter-Daesh partnership and are now stalling the implementation of the March 10 agreement, Trump said they were "paid a tremendous amount of money, oil."

"They were doing it for themselves. More so than they were doing it for us," he added.

It comes after US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said the YPG terror group's role as the "primary anti-ISIS (Daesh) force on the ground" has "largely expired" as Syria is ready to assume security responsibilities.

"Historically, the US military presence in northeastern Syria was justified primarily as a counter-ISIS partnership," Barrack wrote on X on Tuesday, noting that no functioning central government existed under the regime of Bashar al Assad.

Syria's situation has "fundamentally" transformed with Damascus joining the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh as its 90th member in late 2025, he wrote.

Damascus is now "willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities," including control of Daesh detention facilities and camps, he said.

The Syrian army has in recent weeks regained wide areas in eastern and northeastern of Syria after repeated YPG violations of agreements signed with Damascus nearly a year ago.

The YPG is the Syrian offshoot of the PKK, which is recognised as a terror organisation by Türkiye, the US, UK, and the EU.