U.S. military vehicles in Syria. AP Yonhap News

U.S. President Donald Trump on the 14th (local time) reiterated his threat of retaliation for the attack on U.S. troops in Syria, saying, "There will be great damage for those who committed this act."

Speaking at a Christmas reception at the White House on the same day, Trump said, "We lost two great patriots to evil people."

Earlier, three Americans, including two U.S. soldiers and one interpreter, who were on a mission in Syria, were killed on the 13th in an attack believed to have been carried out by the armed group Islamic State (IS). President Trump had previously stated on the 13th via social media platform Truth Social and other channels that "there will be a very strong retaliation."

Trump reaffirmed his intention to retaliate on the same day, stating, "They captured one person, an individual, but there will be great damage."

However, regarding the attack, he said, "It was ISIS (the term the U.S. military uses for 'Islamic State'), not the Syrian government," and added, "The Syrian government fought on our side, and the new president (of Syria) also fought on our side."

Trump criticized the mass shooting incident (at least 11 deaths) that targeted attendees of a large Jewish event at Bondi Beach near Sydney, Australia, on the 14th (local time), calling it "clearly an anti-Semitic attack."

He expressed condolences for the shooting incident that occurred on the 13th at the campus of Brown University, one of the prestigious Ivy League universities in Rhode Island, which resulted in at least two deaths and nine injuries.

Meanwhile, Tommy Pigott, deputy spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, announced that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on the same day to discuss the ambush terror incident targeting U.S. troops.

Pigott stated, "Minister Al-Shaibani expressed his condolences for the incident and reaffirmed the Syrian government's commitment to weakening and destroying the common threat of ISIS. The United States will deter all those who harm and threaten Americans."