'This is not our fight': President-elect Trump signals US will stay out of Syrian conflict

Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & The United States Should have nothing to do with it, says Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday the U.S. should not be involved in the conflict in Syria, where rebel forces are threatening the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!," Trump said in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Trump said because Russia, an Assad ally, is tied up fighting a war with Ukraine it "seems incapable of stopping this literal march through Syria, a country they have protected for years."

If Russia were forced out of Syria, it "may actually be the best thing that can happen to them" because "there was never much of a benefit in Syria for Russia," Trump said.

Trump’s comments appeared to reflect his opposition to the presence of some 900 U.S. troops in Syria, mostly of them in the northeast, where they have backed a Syrian Kurd-led alliance in preventing a resurgence of Islamic State militants.

Trump announced in 2018 during his first term that he wanted to withdraw the U.S. troops because he said Islamic State was near defeat.

Armed opposition groups, resisting Bashar al-Assad's regime, began advancing into the southern suburbs of Damascus on Saturday, engaging in combat with regime forces in the Darayya suburb, located to the south of the capital.

Renewed clashes erupted on November 27 between regime forces and anti-regime groups in rural areas west of Aleppo. By November 30, opposition forces had captured most of Aleppo's city centre and gained control of the Idlib province, consolidating their position.

On Thursday, intense fighting saw opposition groups wrest control of Hama city centre from regime forces. They further seized key settlements in Homs province, an area strategically significant for access to Damascus, intensifying their push forward.

On Friday, Syrian opposition groups achieved another milestone by capturing Daraa, located near the Jordanian border in southern Syria. The same day, local opposition forces took full control of Suwayda province in the south and, shortly after, secured the provincial capital of Quneitra.

In a separate development, on December 1, the Syrian National Army launched 'Operation Dawn of Freedom' against the terrorist group PKK/YPG in Aleppo's Tel Rifaat district, successfully liberating the area from terrorist elements.