French President Emmanuel Macron before his TV interview on April 15, 2018 | Francois Guillot/EPA Macron says he convinced Trump to stay in Syria But White House says policy has not changed.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he convinced U.S. President Donald Trump to stay in Syria and commit "for the long term" but the White House declared its policy had not shifted.

"Ten days ago, President Trump said the U.S.'s will is to disengage from Syria. We convinced him that it was necessary to stay," Macron said during a two-hour TV interview broadcast on Sunday night.

Shortly after Macron's statement, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that the U.S. mission to Syria "has not changed."

“The president has been clear that he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible,” she said.

Trump said earlier this month that the "primary mission" of the United States had been to defeat the Islamic State and this task was "almost completed." He said his administration would look to make a final decision on the status of U.S. troops in the region “very quickly.”

In the interview, Macron also said that he had persuaded Trump "that we needed to limit the strikes to chemical weapons [sites], after things got a little carried away over tweets."

Trump had sparked criticism by writing online on U.S. air strikes on Syria: "Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart’. You shouldn't be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”

In defense of the air strikes conducted on Friday night, Macron said the Western allies had "complete international legitimacy to act," reiterating that there was clear proof of the Syrian government being responsible for a chemical attack in Douma at the beginning of April.

However, Macron said that he still wants to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis based on a dialogue with all parties and will still make a planned trip to Moscow in May.