Trump says Syria ‘not our fight’. Staying out may not be so easy

When Donald Trump sat with world leaders in Paris last weekend to marvel at the restored Notre Dame cathedral, armed Islamist fighters in Syria were in jeeps on the road to Damascus finalising the fall of the Assad regime.
In this split screen moment of global news, the US president-elect, seated between the French first couple, still had an eye on the stunning turn of events in the Middle East.
“Syria is a mess, but is not our friend,” he posted the same day on his Truth Social network.
He added: “THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!”
This post, and another the next day, were a reminder of the president-elect’s powerful mandate to not intervene in foreign policy.
It also raised big questions about what comes next. Given the way the war has drawn in and affected regional and global powers, can Trump really have “nothing to do” with Syria now that President Bashar al-Assad’s government has fallen?
Will Trump pull US troops out?
Does his policy differ drastically from President Biden’s, and if so, what’s the point of the White House doing anything in the five weeks before Trump takes over?
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