Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder holds an Off-Camera, On-the-Record Press Briefing

Dec. 16, 2024

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER:  Just a few things and then we'll get right to your questions. As many of you saw, Secretary Austin traveled to Landover, Maryland on Saturday to attend the Army-Navy game. This was his fourth year attending as the Secretary of Defense. He had the chance to spend some time with midshipmen and cadets from both of the service academies and thank them for their service, professionalism and commitment to our nation's defense.

So, on behalf of Secretary Austin, we would like to congratulate the Navy for taking home the Commander in Chief's Trophy and to congratulate all the athletes from both the Army and the Navy for another competitive matchup in the storied clash of tradition that is the Army-Navy game.

Turning to the Middle East, on Saturday, December 14, the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group entered the US Central Command Area of Responsibility. CENTCOM has posted a press release on this. The strike group deployed to ensure regional stability and security and consists of the flagship USS Harry S, Truman, Carrier Air Wing One with nine embarked aviation squadrons, Destroyer Squadron 28, the Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, and two Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers USS Stout and USS Jason Dunham.

Separately, today CENTCOM forces conducted precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in Syria, killing ISIS terrorists. Battle damage assessments are ongoing, with no indications of civilian casualties. I do expect CENTCOM will put out a press release on this, so I'd refer you to them for additional questions.

And then separately this morning, Secretary Austin spoke with the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Al Thani. The two leaders discussed regional security issues. That call just concluded, so we'll have a readout of that available for you later today. And then finally, a brief update on the transition. On Friday, December 13, Deputy Secretary Hicks and the DOD Transition Director, Jennifer Walsh, spoke with the President-elect's DOD transition team.

The Deputy Secretary conveyed the department's commitment to conducting a smooth and professional transition with the incoming Trump administration. The first visit to the Pentagon by the President-elect's DOD agency review team will take place today and we'll have more information to share as it becomes available. With that, happy to take your questions. Tara, what do you got for me?

Q:  A couple. So, on the strikes on the ISIS camps, do you have a number of how many targets were hit or how many — any sort of idea of how big this was?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  My understanding was they currently assess a dozen ISIS fighters were killed, but again, I would refer you to CENTCOM for more details.

Q:  But was this one strike or two strikes — multiple?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  That's all I have right now.

Q:  Okay. And then our favorite topic, drones. Do we have anything new on the drones or has DOD been asked to take a larger role? I realize there was a call on Saturday on this, but there are definitely questions about how is it that we don't know more about all of this? There's been a number of military bases where there's been some incursions as well.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah. So, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to just take a minute to just kind of hover on this topic for a second. So, on the issue of reported drone sightings, I'll just say up front that we are sensitive to the fact that there are public concerns and many questions. As Tara just mentioned, you've heard the White House, FBI, DHS, FAA and DOD say that we're taking this matter very seriously.

And significant federal, state, and local resources are being devoted to looking into these reports. Countering UAS activity and law enforcement is of course actively investigating. I will tell you we are also committed to providing as much information as possible as quickly as possible on this issue.

You've also heard us say that we have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. And now while recognizing the legitimate concerns of the public, and again emphasizing that we're taking this seriously, I would just like to try to provide or offer some context and perspective here when it comes to drones here in the United States. And so, I'd like to just provide a loose analogy.

The Department of Defense has thousands of installations around the world. There's also millions of legally registered automobiles on the roads around these installations. And on any given day, an unauthorized car or truck may approach one of the base gates, usually on accident. 99 percent of the time those cars are turned away without incident. But every once in a while, a vehicle may enter the installation illegally, at which point security forces respond.

And now, unless there's a clear and present danger, and typically there is not, security forces personnel aren't going to shoot at the vehicle as a first resort. Rather, appropriate means will be employed to mitigate access, if possible, halt the vehicle, assess the situation and work with local law enforcement authorities to appropriately deal with the situation.

Similarly, the FAA reports that there are more than 1 million drones registered with the FAA in the United States, and that more than 8,000 drones are lawfully flown in the US every single day. So, just as automobiles were a new technology once, so are drones, which can be flown for commercial use, recreational or hobbyist use, in some cases for law enforcement purposes.

The point being is that flying drones is not illegal. There are thousands of drones flown around the US on a daily basis. So, as a result, it's not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat.

And so, the same applies to drones flown near US military installations. Some fly near or over our bases from time to time. That in and of itself is not unusual and the vast majority pose no physical threat to our forces or impact our operations. Activities that are concerning happen much less frequently, similar to the scenario I described with ground vehicles.

And if a determination is made that unauthorized drones are conducting any malign or malicious activity, commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems. So, to be clear, we'll continue to do everything possible to investigate reports of concerning activity. But given how many drones are lawfully in our skies every day, we need to be careful to avoid assuming malintent or malicious behavior.

And then finally, I would just highlight also that the department has been aware of the challenges posed by unmanned aerial systems for some time, which is why we recently published the DOD strategy for countering unmanned systems. The strategy spells out how we will continue to work to improve our defenses, deepen our understanding of unmanned systems trends and threats and deliver solutions with greater speed, adaptability and scale.

Q:  You were ready for that one.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I was ready for that one. This topic has been in the news.

Q:  Last quick one. Apparently last week a guy was arrested with a gun and a bunch of marijuana near the Pentagon or trying to get into the Pentagon. Do you all have anything on that?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I've seen the reporting, Tara, I don't have any details to pass on. I'd refer you to PFPA public affairs, and I believe they should be able to get you the details on it. Okay, any more questions? Brandy?

Q:  Thank you. Thanks for that long remark. More questions on the drones though. At this point has the US fully determined that they are not military drones, none that have been reported?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  To my knowledge, there are no military operations that are — these are not military drones.

Q:  US military drones. And then if it does get to a point where it escalates, I know there's a lot of issues with figuring out the authorities right now. Who within DOD has the authority to shoot them down? And are there already plans for that kind of scenario if it gets to a point where people are at risk?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  So, a couple of things. It's also important, too, to remember that domestically, we in the DOD, understandably are limited on the kinds of capabilities that we can use when it comes to drone detection, tracing them. In other words, the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities that we can employ outside the homeland aren't capabilities that we can necessarily deploy inside the homeland. In other words, we don't conduct intelligence on US citizens.

That said, if there is a threat, there are certain measures that we can take, some passive, some active in terms of detection. And I won't go into details for operational security reasons, but that could include things like affecting the signal. It could include using our own drones to take down drones, or essentially redirecting them, things like that.

So, that's one aspect both in terms of domestically but also, importantly, overseas that the counter UAS strategy is looking at. But also in this case, we will deploy as necessary both active and passive measures to defend our facilities. Let me go to Chris and then I'll come to you, sir.

Q:  Thanks, Pat. Are there any related force positive changes associated with the arrival such as the departure of the air force bombers and the additional fighters? One of the reasons given when they deployed was that Blinken was departing.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, Chris, I don't have anything to read out right now. We'll keep you updated on that front. As I'm sure you can appreciate, we won't announce departure activity or deployment activity in advance for multiple reasons.

Q:  It is reported that North Korea soldiers in Russia has begun engaging in Ukraine surge, and there was a casualty in the front lines. Can you update if they have troops in Russia?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, what I can tell you is that we do assess that North Korean soldiers have engaged in combat in Kursk alongside Russian forces. We do have indications that they have suffered casualties, both killed and wounded. I don't have specific numbers to provide for you, but that is obviously something that we continue to monitor. And as we've said all along, those forces are legitimate military targets for the Ukrainians given that they are engaged in active combat ops. Thanks. Idrees.

Q:  Just a couple of quick ones on the drones. When was the last time the US military shot down a drone over an installation in the United States?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I'd have to take that question —

Q:  —Nothing recent?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah. I mean, yeah, I'd have to take that question. And again, I mean, not to say that, as I highlighted earlier, that we're not taking these concerns seriously. But in the same way that there's a traffic stop at a base that doesn't get any attention because it's something we're kind of used to now.

There could be a base where they've determined that there's a small drone flying somewhere. And they use appropriate measures in coordination with law enforcement to either knock the drone out of the sky, it wouldn't necessarily have to be kinetically — or they just monitor it. So, I'd have to take that question.

Q:  And then, different things obviously pop up on social media — someone thinks they've seen a drone in place X and then Y. What is the scale of what the Pentagon is looking at? Is it just in New Jersey? What are you — how many reports are you, I guess, looking at?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, no, that's an important question and what I would tell you is that I would refer you to DHS and FAA to talk about from a domestic US air base standpoint in terms of the scope. I know that there was a background call over the weekend, and that transcript is posted to the White House website. And they say out of 5,000 reported cases, about 100 of those were deemed credible enough to look into.

Now the other important facts here, they assess that initial indications are that in many cases sightings are actually manned aircraft, right? The other is the potential for double counting, whereas there may be multiple reports, but it's a single sighting which then becomes conflated into multiple reported sightings.

So, again, from a DOD standpoint, we're continuing to work closely with the interagency, with DHS, FAA, FBI and others. But obviously from our standpoint our main equities are on DOD installations. And so far, we've seen nothing that would indicate malicious activity or a foreign nexus or anything that has operational impact on our ability to do our mission, nor physical threat to our personnel. Liz.

Q:  Thanks. This is also on the drones. There were reported drone sightings near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Are those at all related to what is being seen in New Jersey and other parts of the country? Is there any indication of that?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  So, I'd refer you to the Air Force for more details on that. But to my knowledge, Liz, we're not necessarily seeing any connection between these. Again, you've got upwards of 8,000 drones flying across the country on any given day, over a million drones registered in the United States.

And so, as I highlighted, the occasional drone coming near or over a base in and of itself is not necessarily unusual. The concerning drone activity that we've talked about in the past like at Langley, that is much more unusual. And so, yeah, as far as Wright-Pat goes though, I'd refer you to the Air Force.

Q:  So, this is different than what was seen near Langley last year then, this specific Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  My understanding, but again I'd refer you to them. And back to Idrees’s other question about the scope, look, on any given day around the globe, DOD at our facilities, we’re doing everything we can to protect those facilities. But as I highlighted earlier, there's going to be the occasional car that comes up to the gate. It's dealt with appropriately and it doesn't make news, right?

Same thing with drones. You're going to have a drone come up. And I mean, again, this is just my personal opinion. I can't necessarily say where these specific reported drone sightings are coming from, but one scenario is a hobbyist sees that, hey, this is happening, copycat, I'm going to do this, see what happens. Or you just don't know. So, as long as there's no malicious Intent or activity, we're going to respond appropriately. And again, the vast, vast majority of these have no operational impact. Charlie.

Q:  Regarding Syria, there are persistent rumors on the ground that elements within ISIS might be intent on overrunning ISIS prison camps within areas that are currently controlled by the SDF. Given that the US mission there is to defeat ISIS, would the United States intercede? And are you tracking anything like that?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  So, I don't have any intelligence that I'm able to talk about, Charlie. I will say, as you rightfully pointed out, that al-Hol presents a significant security concern in the sense that were ISIS able to affect some type of breakout, of any detention facility, that would be a significant setback and something that would be very concerning. Which is why we continue to work very closely with the SDF to ensure that those detainees can continue to be held.

Again, working with the international community to attempt to repatriate many of those detainees, but that is something that we're continuing to communicate very closely with the SDF to ensure. Now, I won't get into hypotheticals about what would happen. Our hope would be that it won't. And so, we'll continue to stay focused on that.

Q:  Aside from intelligence, which you can't share, is there an overwatch? Is there a US military presence in that region?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  We do, as you know. So, you have the SDF that maintains the facility and the US military provides sort of a — kind of an outer layer of security out there, again, working with the SDF in that regard. But also, for supporting the defeat ISIS mission more proactively in terms of disrupting and degrading any potential external operations.

Q:  Two questions, a drone question and a Russia question. Do you have any reason to believe that any of the drone sightings are unregistered or not being flown under the relevant regulations and would therefore seem to pose an increased risk?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I mean, I can't prove a null hypothesis here. Again, as I highlighted, significant resources are being devoted to looking into these reported sightings and determining what they are. But again, recognizing the fact that just seeing a drone doesn't necessarily mean that it's illegal or that it's malicious or that it's doing something malign. So, but again, fully understand the concern which is why we're taking it so seriously.

Q:  And then the Russia question, what's the latest on North Korean troops sent to Russia? Is that still at 12,000? Has that plateaued or do you see indications that North Korea is preparing to send?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  To my knowledge right now, Oren, it's still at 12,000, but I don't have anything else beyond that. Tom.

Q:  Pat, getting back to the ISIS strikes, there seemed to be an uptick in them over the past couple of weeks. Are they in sort of the same area? Are the strikes moving farther west because ISIS is trying to take advantage of the fall of the Syrian regime?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  So, Tom, for this particular strike, I just don't have in front of me the specific location. I will tell you broadly speaking, as we highlighted on the most recent strikes — so first of all the defeat ISIS mission has been going on for some time. But in this case, it is an effort to prevent them from being able to exploit the situation in Syria, move further west to integrate into the cities and towns and potentially become something that is going to be much more difficult to deal with.

So, I think inasmuch as CENTCOM sees a potential threat posed by ISIS, and to mitigate their ability to be able to resurge, you're going to see these strikes. I can't tell you if it will — the number of strikes will increase or not. It will be based on the threat. But again, we'll have more to provide on this.

Q:  But can we get more details? In the past, there were more northeast strikes, northeast Syria.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Right, the last ones were in the desert, central Syria, right, because you had some ISIS camps. Now also I will say that, broadly speaking, one of the big factors that has changed in Syria is the airspace in the sense that previously, you had Syrian regime and Russian air defenses which would preclude, in many cases, our ability to — or desirability to go into those areas.

That obviously is something that — it's a much more permissible environment in that regard. So, and again, I hear you on more details and I just literally got this shortly before we came out here. So, I wanted to make sure you had it, but we'll keep you posted.

Q:  But can we get more details as you provide — as you find them in terms of location and —

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, I'll do my — I'll be briefing again tomorrow. So, and again, CENTCOM will be putting out a press release today and certainly encourage you to give them a call as well.

Q:  Thanks. I hate to belabor the drone issue, but just one.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Do you really, though?

Q:  Well, no. Just to follow up though. We keep hearing what they're not — like they're not a national security threat, they're not US military drones.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  What we've said is we don't assess that they’re a threat.

Q:  So, I guess my question, at the risk of sounding just like making it sound super simple, but how do we know that and what are they? Does DOD know what they are and you're just not saying?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, no, I mean and, again, I want to be clear on this, right? We are providing you the information that we have, right? Because again, we understand that folks have concerns, they want answers to questions and we're working to get answers. But again, in the same way that I don't necessarily know which car is driving past an air base in New Jersey because I'm not necessarily tracking.

I can see a car; I don't necessarily know who's in it because why would I? I don't have the authority to collect information on everybody that passes. So, but it's a legal car going past my base. Again, without getting into classified or specific information, broadly speaking, I'm not saying we have classified information.

If you think about how we address drones overseas, right, that are potentially posing a threat to our base. We have intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance methods that we can use to observe those aircraft and determine, in some cases, point of origin, things that we — capabilities that we wouldn't and can't necessarily employ in the United States, right, because of law for various obvious reasons.

Those would be indicators that would give us an initial sense of are we dealing with something bigger here, right? Are we dealing with a potential foreign threat? Not saying that — we need to allow the investigation to run its course, but there's indicators that would probably provide an initial sense.

The other thing is just remembering how drones operate, right? I mean they are signals based or they're going to be programed via GPS. And if they're not being controlled through that method, then it's probably going to give us an indication of this would be something different, right?

So, I'm kind of talking around it because I don't want to necessarily get into talking classified capabilities. But the bottom line is all of that gives us an idea that, hey, these are not of foreign origin, right, a foreign nexus.

So, again, we've got a lot of time for FBI to and others to look into this. But the point being is that just because you see drones doesn't necessarily mean that something illegal is happening. And unless it crosses into restricted airspace, our authorities to be able to address it are limited.

Q:  I guess can you — I know you just said you don't want to get into classified stuff like indicators and everything, but you clearly are seeing information that makes you know these are not —

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  —Or lack of information.

Q:  Right. I guess can you provide any specifics, because obviously people are freaking out about this? So, like what is DOD seeing that's making you say, okay, this is not a threat, or this is not — I understand the car like analogy, but people shooting at cars.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Again, we're monitoring operations around the world. We have a very robust intelligence network and, so far, have seen nothing to indicate that this is malicious activity or, again, a foreign nexus related to these drones. So, that's where things stand right now. If we did, we'd be telling you that. So, that's kind of where we're at.

Q:  On North Korean troops, can you generalize how they're being used to this point, whether it is infantry operations; also, whether they're entering with Russian formations in an integrated fashion? And then also I know you said you can't get into specifics here with the number of casualties taken, but is there any sort of generalization on the size of their entrance in combat so far?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, I don't — I'm not going to have any numbers to pass along. I would say broadly speaking, my understanding is that they have been integrated into Russian units and primarily are being used in an infantry role. I’ll take a few more. Jeff, and then I'll come back to the group.

Q:  Two questions, one on ISIS, one on the drones. On ISIS, has the US expanded its ISR other reconnaissance efforts over the Central Syrian Desert and other areas where the Syrian regime or Russia had been operating?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Has ISIS expanded?

Q:  No, has the US?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I won't talk about intelligence operations.

Q:  And then on drones, even if there aren't indications that there's a foreign nexus or that this is malicious activity, given that so many drones are made in China and that Chinese hackers have various ways of infiltrating systems, is there any concern that even accidental flyovers or flybys by drones near US bases could lead to the Chinese getting information or other actors getting information that you wouldn't want them to have?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I mean, again, we're talking about the world of possibilities. We're getting into hypotheticals. We're speculating, our imaginations are going to the worst possible case. And it's entirely possible that out of the millions of drones that are registered in the United States and the 8,000 that are flown on a daily basis, could some of those be used in a way that's not helpful or that's unauthorized? It's entirely possible, Jeff.

But again, you have to make decisions based on the facts in front of you even if there's — like I highlighted earlier, if it's deemed that it's malicious activity or malign intent, then commanders have the authority to respond appropriately.

And again, I'll highlight the fact that Google Earth is there, you can drive cars past bases. You have airplanes flying over bases all the time. It's just me, if I was trying to go incognito, I probably wouldn't have my lights on, flying really loud on my drone.

But we haven't seen any indications of sneaky stealthy drone operations at this point, but counterintelligence is something that we're always aware of in the military and something that we always take into account. But you're asking me to suppose or speculate and I just — as we look into this we hope to have more.

Q:  But there are concerns about other Chinese made equipment like some of the cranes at ports where there has been evidence of this stuff. So, yeah.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Of course. I mean — and again, I mean, look, you're a responsible member of the media. I know you're not going to go out and write that it's part of the Red invasion. I mean, let's just put this in perspective again. So, we're working to get the facts. These reported drone sightings are something that are being taken seriously. I'll just leave it there. Please ask a question about the drones.

Q:  On the North Korean troops. Are the combat and casualties limited to Kursk or are there — are some of them engaged in Ukraine?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  As far as I know, Will, right now, it's limited to Kursk.

Q:  I’ve got a bunch. On the Russian troops — or the North Korean troops, when did they start fighting alongside the Russians?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I want to say it was probably about a little over a week ago.

Q:  And you guys just got confirmation.

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  On Monday. Yeah. I mean, I think we talked about this last time, right? Yeah. So, I think we've talked about this before, but at any rate, yes.

Q:  OK. A little over a week. On the drones, when you say these are not military drones, I just want to be clear. Are you guys also saying that they're not like some military contractor or defense contractor drone that are being flown on behalf of the military in some capacity? I just want to make sure that we're not —

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER: Yeah, to my knowledge, and again, checked with the Joint Staff on this, to my knowledge these are not military operations or military drones.

Q:  Okay, so — and that includes, again, defense contractors — just because of some of it up by the Arsenal, Picatinny Arsenal, just making sure that they're not —

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Being based on what I know right now, Courtney, yes, I mean that that is the case. Now again, we've got a lot of folks looking into this, investigating it.

Q:  I don't understand, does DOD actually have a role in investigating it? Because you said we're working to get facts. But I didn't think DOD had an actual role in investigating this?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Just in supporting the interagency, right, providing whatever information they may need from us. But this is obviously an interagency effort. And then also, as I highlighted in terms of if there are — you heard on this background call the fact that there had been drone sightings near Picatinny and Pearl working with the federal authorities to share information in that. So, we are not the lead on that effort.

Q:  But — okay. But it is fair to say that DOD is part — is helping with the investigation?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Supporting the interagency.

Q:  Well, that's just wordy. I mean, can we just say supporting — investigate the investigation into it? I mean that's accurate, right? OK. Did Secretary Austin meet with President-elect Trump at the Army-Navy Game on Saturday or Pete Hegseth?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  He did not.

Q:  How about Hegseth?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  No.

Q:  How about the landing team? They're supposed to be — have they arrived today; do we know? It’s afternoon, so —

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Not to my knowledge, but we'll keep you updated on that.

Q:  Who is leading or who's on the landing team for the Trump side?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  I have to refer you to them. Again, we'll provide updates, regular updates on this and recognizing that this is obviously a topic of great interest. But yeah.

Q:  And then last one on Syria. The SDF are saying that the Turks have notified them that the ceasefire is over and they're going to resume fighting combat in and around Kobani and they're already seeing them start to build up. So, do you have any indication that the SDF are pulling troops away from the prisons? Not Al-Hol, the IDP camp, but the prisons to try to reinforce that Kobani or any — or along Tishreen or anything like that?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  At this time, I do not, but I'll look into that and, if there's any updates, provide them to you. OK. Take one more.

Q:  No drones. In light of the security operation launched by the Palestinian Authority in Jenin in the West Bank, can you confirm that the US urged Israel to allow the transfer of ammunition and equipment to the security — the Palestinian forces to support them against ?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Yeah, I'd have to refer you to the State Department. I don't have anything on that.

Q:  Do you have concerns over the situation there, like groups affiliated with Hamas and Jihad may try to maybe take control of the West Bank or maybe overthrow Mahmoud Abbas?

PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL RYDER:  Let me take that question for you. I don't want to shoot from the cuff on that. Obviously, we've been concerned about violence in the West Bank for a while but let me take that one.