Assad asserted that Trump, however, “speaks with transparency to say, ‘We want the oil,’” adding: “What do we want more than a transparent foe?”

Trump last week announced that “a small number of U.S. troops will remain” in Syria to safeguard the oil-rich Deir ez-Zor province, despite his directive to evacuate the last American forces from the northern portion of the country.

The White House has faced fierce condemnation from congressional lawmakers since early last month for the president’s decision to allow Turkey to invade northeastern Syria and attack U.S.-allied Kurdish fighters.

The controversial maneuver and subsequent withdrawal — viewed as an abandonment of American allies who helped quash the Islamic State terror group in the region — resulted in the Kurds aligning themselves with Assad’s government in Damascus, while Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached an accord with Russian President Vladimir Putin to further repel the Kurdish militias.

Criticism of Trump’s Syria policy, at least from some Republicans on Capitol Hill, abated slightly following a brief cease-fire agreement Vice President Mike Pence negotiated with Erdogan, as well as a slate of sanctions by the administration punishing Ankara for the offensive.

But Trump said during his address last week from the White House that he would roll back those economic penalties after Erdogan claimed the Turkish military would not resume its assault.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon has begun deploying additional forces and armored vehicles to defend Syria’s oil fields in a mission that could swell to include several hundred more troops — likely increasing the number of U.S. soldiers stationed in the country to levels beyond when Trump assumed office nearly three years ago.