The president’s comments were far afield from his administration’s stated path on Libya.
By Karen DeYoung and Karen DeYoung Associate editor and senior national security correspondent Email Bio Follow Missy Ryan Missy Ryan Reporter covering the Pentagon, military issues and national security Email Bio Follow April 19 at 9:19 PM The White House said Friday that President Trump, in a phone call with renegade Libyan general Khalifa Hifter, praised Hifter for fighting terrorism and protecting Libya’s oil, comments that were far afield from the administration’s stated policy on Libya.
The White House statement, released four days after Trump’s previously unreported call on Monday, made no mention of Hifter’s offensive, a cease-fire or the U.N. effort. Referring to Hifter as “Field Marshal,” it said he and Trump discussed “a shared vision for Libya’s transition to a stable, democratic political system.”
Acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan said Friday that the Pentagon “and the executive branch are well aligned on Libya.” Asked if the United States supports Hifter’s offensive, he said that “the military solution is not what Libya needs.” Hifter’s primary backers are the governments of Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, whose leaders are in close and regular contact with Trump. Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi visited Washington last week. On Thursday, Trump spoke by phone with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, the country’s de facto ruler.
Libyan politicians have often been powerless to control militias of all stripes — including those backed by the Islamic State and al-Qaeda — which have warred over power, territory and Libya’s oil resources. Frederic Wehrey, author of “The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for a New Libya,” described the call, and the White House description of it, as “another flip-flopping reversal, and a case of mixed signals, by Trump’s highly personalized, capricious interventions.”
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