place and that is going to put the sdf in a very difficult position. many people believe it will now have to join forces with the assad regime and that could end u.s. help for the sdf. as long as they continue to fight isis, general votel says he would be willing to see weapons continue to flow to them, but if they joined with the regime, the u.s. does not do business with the regime and that relationship with the sdf will stop. barbara starr, cnn, in northern syria. barbara, thank you very much. coming up next, what may be a new low point in the president s relationship with long time allies. see how he was received at a european conference and how it all played out in a very awkward moment of silence while vice president mike pence was on stage. everyone s got to listen to mom.
defense forces, it has come out just in the last few hours and said that the isis controlled area the caliphate as it were, has now been reduced to 75,000 square feet. but there is still isis fighters there, expects to announce victory over the caliphate in the next few days. what should happen next, the president wants to pull out. our general told barbara starr that when he was asked, he would not have advised to pull u.s. forces out. what do you think should happen next? so i agree with general votel. i also as i mentioned sit on those hearings and we had them as well on syria. there was definitely a degree of anxiety on the part of those witnesses they had, that i listened to, that they felt as though it wasn t the appropriate time to do at this time to withdraw those troops for a number of reasons, because they felt as though they were leaving people behind who needed more help and more support because they felt it would be too quick
he s about to retire in the coming weeks. most of his career spent in special operations forces. when you get to this level in the u.s. military, your best military advice usually centers around you leave when the job is done. he does not feel the job is dup. john. barbara, i can t think of a time like this. it s very unusual for a general like votel to publicly split with the president. so the entire world knows that he doesn t agree with the decision that s made here. still, though, he didn t did make clear he will carry out the order to put troops out, yes? reporter: absolutely. you know, does not agree with the decision at the time, but what has happened since is joe votel is a four-star general, he cares out the president s orders. we saw it with jim mattis. if you can t carry out the order, you have to leave. joe votel is a loyal arm general. he is carrying out the president s orders, but he, you know, to be clear he s also waiting to see what develops in the coming weeks whe
suggestion, frankly. reporter: president trump announced in december he would pull more than 2,000 remaining troops from syria. we have won against isis. we ve beaten them and we ve beaten them badly. reporter: votel aligning himself with the u.s. intelligence community assessment that despite significant advances, there are tens of thousands of isis fighters spread across syria and iraq. and the decision to pull out of syria leading defense secretary james mattis to resign last year. last week votel made a stunning revelation that the president did not consult him on the decision to withdraw. certainly we are aware that he has expressed a desire and intent in the past to depart iraq. so you weren t consulted before that decision was announced? we were not i was not consulted. reporter: nonetheless, votel emphasizing he is carrying out the president s orders. this morning votel stressed military pressure must be
breaking with president trump. general joseph votel who leads the war against isis tells cnn in a new interview that he disagrees with president trump s decision to pull u.s. troops out of syria and insists the terror group is not defeated. cnn s barbara starr who just interviewed the general and is the only tv correspondent traveling with him joins us live with all of the breaking news. what did he tell you, barbara? reporter: well, alisyn, good morning to you from oman in the persian gulf. general votel very candid, very blunt. you might be a bit surprised about what he had to say. it wou it would not have been my military advice at that time. reporter: the top u.s. commander in the war against isis flatly disagreed with president trump s decision to pull out of syria. in an exclusive interview with cnn, general joseph votel says it s too soon to bring u.s. troops home. i would not have made that