U.S. President Donald Trump's suggestion on Sunday that Exxon Mobil or another U.S. oil company operate Syrian oil fields drew rebukes from legal and energy experts.

"What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly ... and spread out the wealth," Trump said Sunday during a news conference about the U.S. special forces operation that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the two largest U.S. oil companies operating in the Middle East, declined comment on the President's remarks.